


When The Sun Goes Down

by Headphone_Love



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Blood and Injury, Bounty on Head, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Humor, Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio Friendship, Iwaizumi Hajime is a Great Friend, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Violence, Oikawa Tooru is a Mess, Slow Burn, Tumblr Prompt, some original characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-21 20:10:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15565503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Headphone_Love/pseuds/Headphone_Love
Summary: Orange.All Oikawa had wanted to see again was Orange.What he got instead was Red.





	1. Let Me Start Over Again

**Author's Note:**

> This was a ride to write but Bad Things Bingo has returned! And with a rather decent lengthed story at that.
> 
> I would like to thank the requester for asking me to do this, as it is definitely a style or idea I wouldn't have tried on my own. It was fun to write and hopefully you all enjoy!
> 
> There are things I'll explain here in relation to this AU, but if there is anything I missed, feel free to ask!  
> \---------------------------
> 
> 1\. Facilities: Government funded organizations that train and recruit those who they believe could help innocents and put dangerous criminals away. Not all facilities are good, however. Due to the recruitment process, facilities do not have many spies at a certain time. Some sector have as many as 60 agents while others have as low as 10. It really does all depend on the standards of each sector.
> 
> 2\. Sectors: These are groups of people who are trained for a specific job within the facility. Each facility differs, but the one in this story can be broken down into Upper and Lower. 
> 
> Upper: Crows/Owls: They’re the fighters and mainly handle the hands-on aspects of cases. In total, this sector consists of 50 people. They’re fighting style resembles Krav Maga or other offense based techniques. Even if they are weaponless, crows and owls will continuously attack in any way they can...and win.
> 
> Lower: Cats/Snakes- Prefer to help from a distance with behind the scenes concerns. Most are pretty meticulous with planning. They are great with technology but were not excused from learning how to fight. This sector consists of 43 people. Their fighting styles resemble Aikido or other defense based techniques. They like to use their enemy's power against them rather than act on impulse like the upper section. 
> 
>    
> 3\. All spies are trained with weapons and tech regardless of where they were trained or by who. Most of the weaponry of spies are more in the laser realm. Some spies prefer not use guns with bullets because they leave traces behind or give away their positions. Normal guns are not unheard of, however, as many spies still haven’t fully transitioned to the whole laser tech craze yet. Others specialize in knives and smaller weapons just for the sake of close combat scenarios.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Instead of antagonizing him...why not try to be a friend of sorts?”
> 
> “Friend? With the person who we’re supposed to be protecting?” Oikawa questioned. “That’s dangerous and stupid even as a suggestion.”
> 
> “Yeah?” Iwaizumi said with a small chuckle, turning back to his desk. “So is antagonizing a crow, but you managed to do that...didn’t you?”

Oikawa considered himself to be pretty damn good at his job. He still had the world to improve and gain more experience, but it didn’t stop him from being confident in his current skills. 

With Iwaizumi backing him, there wasn’t really a job they hadn’t been able to complete. It was one of the reasons why they had been able to secure a personal for themselves rather than living on base.

Geniuses needed space.

“Have you seen the latest request, Shittykawa?” Iwaizumi murmured, eyes trained on his monitor. He turned to look over his shoulder, glaring at his partner.  “Or have you been running around the personal and bragging to the others about it through video chat again?”

“Now, now, no need to insult me for appreciating our accommodations, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa mused, rolling his chair over from his own computer to Iwaizumi’s. “And have I seen what?” 

“The newest alert sent out,” Iwaizumi said, motioning to the file the base had sent. “Seems like some missing person’s case.”

“We don’t do missing people,” Oikawa said, losing all interest and crossing his arms. He sat back in his chair.  “Especially not after last time when we found out the kid was actually just a runaway,” he reminded, about to roll back until Iwaizumi gripped his chair to keep him in place.

“Get your head out of your ass,  _genius_. When are the only times an alert is sent out by fellow sectors?”

With a sigh, Oikawa rolled his head back against his chair. “Obviously when an agent goes missin—” he paused, eyes going wide. He leaned forward reading over the file again and parting his lips in surprise.

“You see what I see?” Iwaizumi said quietly.

Oikawa nodded, eyes locked onto the screen. He leaned forward, hand reaching out to rest on top of the monitor. This wasn’t some missing person’s case like Iwaizumi had described. It was a bounty, though the formatting wasn’t like any he’d ever seen before. There was no number amount, just a request for the person to be alive and a promise of reward. That fact alone sent alarms going off in Oikawa’s head.

“I’ll send what I have over to you. We might’ve just gotten something more interesting to do other than paperwork.”

“Only you would find paperwork interesting,” Oikawa said with a click of his tongue. “But do send it. I want to take a closer look. Seems like the crows managed to get themselves into some trouble.”

* * *

 

Entering another sector was always...weird.

Not only was Oikawa no longer used to the rowdiness of sector bases, but here, he barely knew anyone. He knew a few of the higher-ups like Eagle and Sparrow, but that was mainly because he had helped them with a few cases way back when. The sector was always said to be full of energy, but even Oikawa shuddered at how much there really was.

Shouldn’t people on the front lines be more...terrified? Reserved?  

“Swan, pleasure as always,” Iwaizumi said, bowing his head to the crow that had been kind enough to escort them around.

“How kind,” Swan said with a warm smile. “We’d like to thank you ahead time for answering this request. We knew many people from your sector wouldn’t be interested considering how missing persons cases are much less interesting than bounties themselves.”

“Except for the fact that this actually is one, isn’t it?”

Swan seemed surprised, expression unreadable. “They don’t call you two some of the best for no reason, do they?” he complimented, motioning for them to follow. He led them up through the common area where many crows were laughing and joking around. Some were eating, others were looking through files. Oikawa wondered how they could all be so casual, but knew better than to question it for too long.

The three agents moved up a staircase, the sounds of the crows becoming far off until they reached a room. Opening the door, Swan allowed them to enter first. He shut the door behind him and moved towards the screen. Placing on a glove, he tapped on the screen as it came to life.

“The missing person is one of our crow’s younger siblings. While many might assume she’s an agent, she is a civilian. She never lived here, however, she did come to visit a few times in the last couple of months despite her brother’s hesitation.”

Swan moved his hand upward to move onto what looked to be a photo of the girl. The only info they were being given on her was that she was in her teens and how she looked. He supposed it would do for now.

“She was seen two days ago but seems to have completed vanished without any trace. She had no reason to run away and so we chalked it up to someone taking her from under our noses,” he explained.

“Any information on who might have wanted to target her?” Oikawa asked with a raised brow.

“Not at the moment.  Whoever did it had to have known she was here, though. It was an intentional kidnapping and yet they haven’t sent us any demands or requests for ransom.”

“We noticed that on the alert you sent out. It’s really...unusual,” Oikawa said, picking his words carefully. “What’s the point of snagging someone for a bounty if you don’t even have a payout?”

“That’s what we’re wondering. It seems that their motivation behind this is still a mystery.”

The three men went silent, watching the smiling girl on the screen until Iwaizumi spoke.

“So...what do you want us to do, exactly? I get that she’s missing but even we can’t just magically find her. We need some kind of lead before we know what to do,” he pointed out. “Why the need for outside power when I’m sure you have people here who might be able to help?”

“We aren’t expecting you to be miracle workers, but we do have another issue. As mentioned earlier, this is the sibling of a crow. Because of this relation, he’s been threatening to leave the base to try and find her himself despite warnings for him to stand down,” Swan explained. “If he manages to slip away, there’s a chance that he could jeopardize both his sister and himself.”

“And the base,” Oikawa added under his breath as Iwaizumi shoved his elbow into his gut.

“So you want us to make sure he doesn’t compromise the overall rescue?” Iwaizumi asked.

“Exactly. We aren’t sure how long we’ll take, which may result in him getting antsy here. We need to provide a distraction for him while also keeping him safe.”

“So what I’m hearing is you want me to play babysitter,” Oikawa said with a scrunch of his nose. “Pass.”

“Otter, _tone_ ,” Iwaizumi reminded, Oikawa staring at the picture of the girl and rubbing his neck. Considering the missions they had done, this seemed way too tame. Oikawa wanted something that would test the limits, not some gig taking care of a crow that had no self control. Despite his hesitation, Iwaizumi already appeared to have made up his mind which no doubt meant there really wasn’t an option here. With a deep sigh, he turned to the white-haired male and crossed his arms.

“Fine. So we distract this guy so he doesn’t go all gung-ho until you track down his missing whatever. Then we basically help you all get her back?”

“Not exactly,” Swan said. “We wish for you to take him in and train him for the time being. Not only would it be beneficial to him, but it’ll keep him at bay until we are able to find out more about the case.”

Oikawa let out a laugh of disbelief. “Look, we’re not some kind of day ca—”

Another blow to the gut had Oikawa reeling, the elder falling to his knees and coughing as Iwaizumi bowed his head.

“We’ll make sure you’re crow is trained so that should his sister pop up, he’ll be prepared. It’s better he isn’t here as well, as you’ll need time to concentrate without him sticking to your side.”

The white-haired male smiled kindly at Iwaizumi, not even glancing down to the brunet dry heaving on the ground.

“We leave him in your hands, then. Thank you.”

* * *

 

Oikawa sat with his legs crossed, watching the crow train. For someone described as impulsive, he’d been well behaved in his two weeks with them despite being in a less crowded living space. The only complaint Oikawa had was that he was too damn quiet. He would pop out of nowhere half the time, scaring half the life out of him and his partner. He never asked for anything, determined to do it himself even if he didn't know how.

It was only three days into them taking care of the crow when he had passed out because he hadn’t been able to find the kitchen since arriving. After that, Iwaizumi put a directory up in the common room just so they wouldn’t accidentally starve the poor crow.

Which led him to now, wondering how he should approach him. Oikawa had been trying, but it was like he was invisible whenever the other was training. The crow had intense focus, he’d give him that much.

“So do you have a name, or are you going to continue ignoring us?”

The crow lifted his leg, slamming it into the punching bag as Oikawa whistled.

At first, he had wondered how going from the hustle and bustle of a sector base to a private living area like a personal would affect the crow. The energy here was undoubtedly non-existent compared to what Oikawa had felt at the base, and if there was anything he knew about crows, it was that they fed off energy.

Another loud thud against the bag made him wince.

Even without the other crows around, Oikawa could tell that the baby crow was still full of energy. Nervous energy, probably, but energy nonetheless. His way of fighting just  _screamed_ for people to try and attack him and get out alive. Oikawa had never really seen anything like it. 

He and Iwaizumi were both more stealthy and calculating. This kid was all fists and pure offensive power.

It intrigued him.

“Ignoring someone is the worst way to have a conversation, you know that, Chibi-chan?”

The sound of the sack slamming against the wall caught his attention, the crow turning to him with his lips in a thin line.

“Don’t call me that.”

“He speaks!” Oikawa said with a grin. His voice was somewhat higher than Oikawa had thought it would be, but it suited him well. “Give me a name to the face, Even your code name will do,” he continued, moving to stand so he towered over him. “What is it? Is it a bird like the rest of your team? Or maybe a color? Oh, maybe you chose it yourself so it’s personal?”

Moving towards the door, the male spoke. “Wildfire. Happy? Leave me alone.”

“Oh~ Wildfire. Exotic. Sounds like you have a fun story to tell about that name.”

“Fuck off.”

Oikawa pouted, following the other despite his attempt to walk away. “I can’t leave you alone when I’m supposed to be training you. My name’s Otter, pleasure to meet you. I like guns and eating cold pizza. My partner thinks it’s gross but I’m not offended cause that means more cold pizza for m—”

“Do you ever shut up?” Wildfire asked with a tired tone, looking up at Oikawa in disbelief. Even while the crow wore dark goggles, Oikawa could sense a glare coming from him.

“It wouldn’t seem like I was talking so much if you answered like a normal person.”

Wildfire pushed air from his nose. “I don’t think normal should be used to reference anyone in this business,” he muttered. “And excuse me for not wanting to gossip and become best friends. I was too busy stuck on the fact that my sister was kidnapped weeks ago and  I’m stuck here with...” he paused, looking Oikawa up and down. “ _You_.”

“What’s wrong with me? I’ve trained plenty of people in my time as a spy,” Oikawa insisted despite having trained none. He was too young to do it often, as far as he knew. All of his old mentors were at least 10 to 20 years older in experience. 

“You’re irritating, for starters,” Wildfire said as he turned to leave. “And you’re taking this as a joke. So just stay out of my hair and I might not break anything on you.”

Oikawa grabbed the other’s shoulder to stop until he was on his back, staring up at the crow with wide eyes.

Wildfire hovered over him, fists clenched tightly at his sides. “For the sake of that arm of yours, never touch me.”

A threat more than a statement.

Oikawa moved to sit up and let out a small cough. “Fine, no touching, got it. But at least try not to damage the goods?”

Wildfire’s entire demeanor changed entirely, going from hot-headed to cold. “I’m done training for today,” he said, the doors shutting behind him once he stepped into the hallway.

Rubbing the area with a frown, he shook his head.

He’d get through eventually.

* * *

 

“You might want to apologize.”

Of course Iwaizumi would take the crow’s side. If not for the fact that relationships between sectors were prohibited, he was almost positive his partner would end up with one.

“I was just trying to talk to him,” Oikawa said while crossing his arms. “It’s not my fault he went all Rambo on me.”

Iwaizumi stopped and turned in his chair, pushing his glasses up and wiping sweat from his face. “Shittykawa, let’s put things into perspective,” he offered, putting his tools down for a moment. “ This guy who is used to being on the front lines and going all out has been forced into sitting back and letting other people do work he usually does. All because it’s too personal for him to be involved.”

Oikawa’s shoulders faltered. “I know that already.”

“You act like you don’t,” Iwaizumi pointed out. “His sister is  _missing_. He has no way of knowing whether she’s alive, even, and yet you’re here messing around because you think this isn’t a serious case. If you took both this request and Wildfire more seriously, maybe you’d stop fucking up.”

“I  _am_ taking this—”

“Tooru.”

Oikawa stopped at the use of his first name.

“I get it, this isn’t as glamorous as hacking into police databases or taking down a gang with nothing but emails and transaction documents.”

“Those cases were pretty damn great,” Oikawa agreed.

Iwaizumi ignored him. “But keep in mind that we're the only people he’s in contact with right now. At his sector, he was probably allowed to wander freely and now he’s a bird in a cage for lack of a better term. Instead of antagonizing him...why not try to be a friend of sorts?”

“Friend? With the person who we’re supposed to be protecting?” Oikawa questioned. “That’s dangerous and stupid even as a suggestion.”

“Yeah?” Iwaizumi said with a small chuckle, turning back to his desk. “So is antagonizing a crow, but you managed to do that...didn’t you?”

* * *

 

Entering into the common room, Oikawa stopped right in front of where Wildfire sat, the other frozen mid-bite of his lunch.

“What is it now, Otter?” the crow muttered, placing the food down onto his plate. Every time he’d tried to apologize, Wildfire managed to avoid him. Accepting that an apology wouldn’t work, he decided to try something different.

“Let’s go.”

Wildfire raised a brow. “Go? Where?”

Oikawa leaned over, fingers pressed to Wildfire’s lips.“I was wrong to take all of this lightly. I’ll take it seriously from here on out,” he promised. “But you’re going to have to have a bit of faith in me. Got it?”

Wildfire raised a hand, wrapping it around Oikawa’s wrist and moving it away from his mouth with a scrunch of his nose. “Why should I do that?” he demanded. “You don’t care about me or my sister.”

“That may be true,” Oikawa said honestly, “but a mission is a mission and this is one that my partner and I accepted despite you being difficult. Besides, your sister is an innocent in this case. Our job is to help innocents. So let me help by preparing you.”

When the grip on Oikawa’s wrist loosened, he figured he must have said something right for once. Wildfire allowed his hand to drop, lips parting. “Alright. But one wisecrack and I’m going back to the crows and tracking her myself.”

Amused that Wildfire thought that was even an option, Oikawa humored him and nodded. “Fine. Now follow.”

The crow stood, standing beside Oikawa with a hesitance the elder wasn’t used to seeing from him. He figured the whole trust thing was unsettling considering that their relationship had been far from smooth.

“Ready?” Oikawa questioned.

Wildfire nodded.

“Good. Let’s start with lesson one.”

* * *

 

Wildfire crashed into the wall with a sharp breath, falling to the ground and having trouble standing.

“You’ve gotta think more, Chibi-chan. Speed alone won’t help you if you don’t plan ahead.”

Watching Wildfire struggle, Oikawa wondered for a moment whether he’d overestimate his abilities. It’s been a week since they’d started to train, and yet Wildfire was still struggling with basic defense. His offense was amazing, but to have such a lack of instinct to protect himself made him wonder how Wildfire had survived as long as he had.

Even in the earlier practice with the bots, he’d been too rash. He wasn't thinking before he did anything and that made him more a hazard than an asset. He knew that every sector had a different training regimen and would never assume he could fight better than a crow, but right now he truly wondered if that was the case.

The fact Wildfire was struggling so much was actually starting to concern him.

“Think about  _what_?” Wildfire rasped once he willed himself to stand. He was shaking and looked as if he’d collapse at any moment, but he was up and in position. “I was always told that the moment you think, you die.”

“I’m not telling you to stop in a fight and write a damn essay," Oikawa said with a raised brow. "But you do still need to think about the enemy’s next move so you can avoid it. You’re thinking too offensively when you should be defending,” he tried to explain. ”This is where bluffing can help a lot.”

“Bluffing?” Wildfire echoed, tilting his head. The look on his face was pure confusion, brows scrunched as if trying to make sense of the word.

Trying his best not to appear surprised, Oikawa cleared his throat. “Yeah, you know. Opening yourself up only to snap shut once they take the bait? Pretending you’re weakened only to come back full force?”

Wildfire made a face. “...I’ve never heard of that.”

Oikawa lowered his guard, trying to think of another way to explain. 

_He adapts to what you give him. I have a feeling you can pull more out of him than anyone he trains with here._

Right. The baby crow didn't learn through words. He learned by doing. 

“I’ll just show you. That way you’ll learn better," Oikawa said as Wildfire nodded. "Come at me with all you have, Don't be shy."

And then Wildfire was on him.

* * *

 

“Seriously, Shittykawa. They said to train him, not kill him,” Iwaizumi muttered, cutting the other’s shirt open to tend to his wounds. “This is the third time this week that you’ve brought him here unconscious.”

“It’s not my fault he doesn’t know his limit,” Oikawa insisted, taking a bite of his sandwich. “Besides, he’s gotten a lot better considering he didn’t even know what  _bluffing_ was. We’re behind a screen half the time and we were taught that.”

Iwaizumi shrugged, shaking a can and spray the crow’s bruised stomach. “Yeah, but you also forget the crows are meant to pick at the enemy’s movements and feed on their weaknesses. Purposely displaying his own weakness as a tactic is probably mind-boggling to a newbie like Wildfire. Probably to all of them, actually.”

Clicking his tongue, Oikawa turned his gaze back onto Wildfire. He flinched when he noticed that the bruises were a lot darker than he remembered. Maybe he had been a little too harsh on him recently. He knew it wasn’t ill will—he actually had begun to enjoy his training with the crow. The kid was like a sponge, sucking up everything Oikawa tossed at him and throwing it back twice as hard.

It made Oikawa want to guarantee that should anything happen with this case, the crow came back alive.

“Either way, he’s better prepared now,” Oikawa assured, waving a hand in the air. “His fighting skills when attacking were already pretty clean. I didn’t have to do much there.”

Iwaizumi raised a brow. “High praise from someone who thought this was nothing but a babysitting gig a month ago.”

“You never fail to bring that up somehow, do you?” Oikawa muttered. “And I changed, didn’t I? Because of that, he’s not trying to escape and go find his sister like a dumbass anymore.”

“I guess,” Iwaizumi agreed, moving to Wildfire’s arm. “But I don’t think he’s acting like this to be a hero or anything. I think he’s just really concerned about his sister. I mean, if I had a relative taken because of me, I’d be pissed too.”

Oikawa straightened. “Why do you think her kidnapping was on him?”

Iwaizumi shrugged his shoulders. “This case was weird from day one. No money request, no threats to the crows, no information on who took her, no breach in the crows systems...” he frowned deeply. “It’s like whoever has her is two steps ahead and is just waiting on something. There’s a piece that none of us have yet and it’s been weighing a bit. Just forget I said anything...I might be overthinking it.”

Leaning back in his chair, Oikawa continued to watch as Iwaizumi took care of the crow’s injuries, wondering why his stomach lurched at the thought of something happening to Wildfire. Sure, the kid was short-tempered, but he seemed well-intentioned and dedicated to what he did.

Oikawa could respect that.

‘Stupid Iwaizumi and his theories making me think,’ Oikawa thought bitterly, taking another bite of his sandwich.

It tasted like nothing.

* * *

 

“How old are you, Chibi-chan?”

Trying to catch his breath, Wildfire turned to look at Oikawa with a water bottle in his hand. “Why the sudden interest?” he asked as his arm brushed against his forehead to wipe it off.

Oikawa shrugged.“We’ve been training together for a bit...so shouldn’t we know more about each other than just code names at least?”

Wildfire leaned his head back against the wall. “I guess that makes sense,” he agreed. “And you have been less of a dick lately, so it wouldn’t be that painful to actually talk to you.”

“Wounded, Chibi-chan. Really.”

Cracking a tiny smile, Wildfire fiddled with his goggles for a moment. “I’m twenty. I turn twenty-one soon.”

Oikawa whistled. “They recruit young, don’t they? The limit here is twenty-one.”

“I wasn’t recruited,” Wildfire corrected, tilting the water bottle from side to side with his thumbs. “I’m honestly not even sure what recruitment is or how it works. I was just trained for three years and then sent on my way.”

Oikawa turned so he was facing the other, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “How’d you find out about the crows, then?”

“Family Ties,” Wildfire said easily.  “My parents passed away when my sister and I were pretty young, and my grandfather took us in. He was a crow too.”

Raising a brow, Oikawa nodded. He’d never heard of that happening. Even he had to go through the recruitment process despite his dad and uncle being spies. Hell, even his cousin was a spy. He hadn’t looked into where they were all stationed as of late, but he knew for sure no one got in without being recruited.

“He taught me how to fight, even had me train with a few old crows and buddies of his. Many of them assumed I’d be joining the crows without question,” he admitted. “My grandfather might have even actually given his blessing had he not been targeted while with me once.”

“Targeted?” Oikawa said as he straightened where he sat. Retired spies never really faced many issues as far as he knew. They were always placed in witness protection and given options of where they could go.

Wildfire nodded. “I still don’t really know much about it. I was knocked out for jumping on a guy's back. When I came to, my grandfather was pretty quiet about it all. He just told me that I should stop training and focus on taking care of my sister so I didn’t end up like him.”

“Did you?”

Oikawa was sure if Wildfire hadn’t been wearing his goggles, his eyes would have been staring him down for that question. “Oh, right,” the brunet muttered with a small tint hitting his cheeks. “Obviously you didn’t listen.”

Wildfire snickered. “Obviously,” he repeated. “But...I always think about that fight you know? I feel like I missed something because I didn’t pay enough attention,” he admitted.

“You were a kid. I’m surprised you remember as much as you do,” Oikawa assured. “Besides, it obviously couldn’t have been anyone too dangerous. You wouldn’t have made it out alive if it had been.”

“Don’t I know it,” Wildfire said as he processed his words. “And thanks. I appreciate this.”

Oikawa gave the other a small smile, nudging his shoulder with his own. “Not a problem,” he replied. “Anything to make you feel at least somewhat more at ease here.”

Wildfire continued to stare only turning away and clearing his throat once he’d realized what he had been doing. “Uh, to end my unnecessarily long story, when my grandfather passed away, the crows contacted me. I could either join them, or they’d set me up in witness protection and let me live a normal life with my sister like my grandfather wanted. I think the choice is pretty obvious, no?”

Oikawa agreed. Getting stronger and being able to protect yourself vs. having to be protected by others wasn’t even a real option.

“So the crows are pretty much your new family, huh?” Oikawa asked, Wildfire smiling.

“Yeah. I guess you could say that.”

Oikawa leaned closer, smirking slightly. “So since we’ve had this whole heart to heart, does that make me family too?”

The water that was splashed in his face was a clear ‘no’, but the bright laugh that left Wildfire’s lips was a sure ‘maybe’.

* * *

 

_“I really hope Wildfire hasn’t been too much to handle. He’s a great asset to have when he tries.”_

Iwaizumi shook his head at the screen, offering a smile of reassurance. “The first few days were pretty hard keeping him here, but Otter seems to have made a breakthrough with him,” he explained. “They’ve been so occupied with training that Wildfire’s actually warmed up to us a bit.”

_“That’s our Wildfire. There isn’t one person he can’t make friends with. He’s honestly a good kid.”_

“Funny how the good ones end up with the rest of us, isn’t it?” Iwaizumi mused quietly, seeing a solemn look cross the white-haired male’s face.

_“Good and bad don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.”_

Iwaizumi nodded in agreement, running a hand through his hair. “How irritatingly true that is,” he murmured, before shaking his head. “But back on topic...you said you found out some information?”

_“Yes, but it’s pretty confusing, honestly.”_

“Isn’t everything?” Iwaizumi said under his breath before nodding his head. “What was it?”

_“After some digging, one of my agents managed to find a flier.”_

“Great. That means we were right in our assumption.”

 _“Well, yes, but we were wrong in who the bounty was for,”_  Swan said with a deep frown.

Raising a brow, Iwaizumi leaned forward. “Well then, who the hell was it for?”

* * *

 

“You want me to help you...fix the goggles?”

Wildfire nodded, holding them out in the direction of the other’s voice.

“How’d you break em?” Oikawa asked as he walked over to the crow. “They looked pretty sturdy.”

“They were, but, uh, I might’ve gotten a bit caught up during training last night,” Wildfire admitted with an awkward cough into his fist. “Anyway, can you fix them?”

“Of course I can,” Oikawa said, pausing. “Why do you need them anyway? Swan told me you didn’t wear them around him,” he said with a raised brow. “These are probably just holding you back while training if anything.”

“I like them,” Wildfire said without hesitance. “The same reason you wear that weird stud in your ear at all times.”

Oikawa pouted, leaning forward. “My partner gave me this!. I think it’s nice.”

Wildfire jumped, backing away and tripping. He crashed to the floor, grunting at the pain that moved up his spine. “You—! Don’t get that close!”

Rolling his eyes, Oikawa placed the goggles down. “It’s not my fault you can’t tell where I am with your eyes closed like that,” he teased. “If you just opened them…”

“Stay back!” Wildfire demanded, arms out in front of him despite being on the ground. “I’m warning you, Otter!”

Oikawa did the complete opposite, opting to the pin the other’s arms down and hover above him. “Come on~ We’re like family!” he reasoned, head moving side to side to try and catch even a moment of the other’s eyes opening.

“You made that decision on your own!” Wildfire replied. The laugh that threatened to leave his lips was obvious, but he continued to try and look irritated. “And what part of stay away don’t you understand?!”

“All of it.”

Wildfire continuously squirmed in an to escape, pulling at his arms and attempting to kick his legs. A while later, he slumped against the ground and groaned. “You can’t just keep doing this whenever I don’t tell you something, Otter!”

“Well…” Oikawa hummed. “If you admit that we’re family, then maybe I’ll let stop,” he bargained.

“But we aren’t,” Wildfire grumbled to himself, cheeks growing awfully red. He didn’t say anything more, head to the side and body going slack. After a few minutes of pure silence, his breathing nearly evened out. Oikawa continued to watch him, squinting at how calm he’d become. He’d never seen the other so...relaxed. It was almost as if he’d…

“Did you fall asleep?” Oikawa whispered in disbelief. He leaned in closer, trying to make out any indication that Wildfire was lying. Finding none, he let his eyes scan the other’s pale face, noticing little things he hadn’t before. The freckles, for one, the dark circles under his eyes, the way he had a slight scar right below his left eye.

Oikawa blinked, confused until he was lifted, being thrown over Wildfire and landing on his back with a groan. “Never have your guard down on a crow, Otter!”

Wildfire was out the door of the room before Oikawa could even get to his feet, the sound of the doors closing behind him.

“That little…” Oikawa whispered as he stared at the ceiling, unable to help the small sense of pride that moved through him.

He’d been had.


	2. If You Like it Or Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, then what about you?” Wildfire asked curiously.
> 
> “What about me?”
> 
> “Have you ever wanted a calm and relaxed life?”
> 
> Oikawa pondered the question for a bit, shutting his eyes and humming. “It would be nice,” he admitted quietly.

“It went _cold_?” Wildfire whispered, the look on his face making Oikawa feel more than he’d ever admit.

“I’m sorry, Chibi-chan. Looks like it came up as a false lead,” Oikawa murmured, offering an apologetic look “They’re stalling, though. That usually means they didn’t plan for this which should be a good sign.”

“How?” Wildfire demanded, hands forming fists. “We should be wondering _why_ they are stalling. What are they waiting for? Why not just ask for what they want and get it over with?”

Oikawa looked over at Iwaizumi, not entirely sure how to answer the question. His partner cleared his throat and tried to think of an answer.

“That’s what we’ve been wondering,” Iwaizumi began slowly, dark circles under his eyes. “Whatever they were attempting, they don’t seem to be able to proceed. So for now until something comes up, we’re stumped.” 

“Well get unstumped!” Wildfire demanded. “This is a person’s life. They could be torturing her for no reason or…” he trailed off. “She’s probably terrified and—”

“Wildfire,” Iwaizumi began, standing and holding his hands out. “We don’t even know who these people are, let alone where they took her of it she’s with them at all. I get that this is your sister, but you need to keep a clear mind about this all. There isn’t much we can do but wait.”

Wildfire turned to look at him from where he stood, body rigid. “Wait?” the crow repeated, letting out a shaky breath. “All I’ve done is _wait_. And for what? For all of you to tell me that the trails went cold and now we have absolutely no idea where the hell she is?” he continued. “Are all of you even trying to find her? Is this a game to you too?”

“Chibi-chan...please calm down,” Oikawa said, as placed a hand on the other's shoulder. He was pressed against the wall a moment later, his arm being held by Wildfire. Even in this position, he could practically feel how the other tremble with anger.

“I thought I told you to _never_ touch me.”

“That’s enough, Wildfire. Let him go,” Iwaizumi demanded, his tone more apologetic than angry. Oikawa knew how hard Iwaizumi had been working while they trained, but he also knew how much Wildfire loved his sister.

Surprisingly, the crow did let him go, expression shocked before going cold.

Rubbing his wrist, Oikawa turned to the crow to speak, but the ginger turned and walked out of the common room silently before he had a chance. Not being able to do much but watch, Oikawa let out a deep sigh and stared down at his wrist where the markings were already starting to form.

“I think it’s best for us to let him cool down,” Iwaizumi said quietly. “While Swan and I try to pick up where we left off, you go and get some rest. I might call you in for some help later on so don’t stay up too late.”

Oikawa swallowed hard, wondering why his chest tightened painfully. “Yeah...yeah, alright.”

* * *

 

It wasn’t their fault, but Oikawa couldn’t help but want to try and make it up to Wildfire somehow.

Two months and the only lead they’d managed to secure had all but blew up in their faces.

It’d only been a mission they took because it seemed interesting and because Iwaizumi accepted on both their behalves, but now that Oikawa knew better, he was in too deep. He cared: about Wildfire and his kid sister.

He’d learned that her name was Natsu. She liked to play sports and draw and wanted to be a professional soccer player when she got older. She was fifteen years old and had never fought a day in her life unless absolutely necessary because she was a pacifist to the core.

If Oikawa had learned this all from a file, he might not have felt as strongly about it as he did, but he hadn’t. He’d learned this all from Wildfire himself, and it made it all the heavier on his shoulders.

“Wildfire...you have to open up eventually,” Oikawa insisted, forehead pressed against the door. He knocked again, aiming to be as irritating as possible so that Wildfire would open the door just to blow up at him. Even if it was Wildfire screaming at him and Iwaizumi for not doing a better job, it was better than the silent treatment he’d been receiving. It bothered him a lot more than he’d thought it would.

When Wildfire had refused to talk to him at first, Oikawa couldn’t have cared less. Now, though, it made him feel like he was being forced out and pushed away.

It didn’t sit well with him.

“Wildfir—”

Mid knock, the door opened revealing the crow, Oikawa nearly crashing into him before he caught himself.

Wildfire didn’t say a word, though Oikawa knew he was staring at him by how he slowly lifted his head.

“So you’re still alive,” Oikawa tried to crack, but Wildfire didn’t give a tiny smile as usual. He only shrugged, arms around himself and eyes downcast. The elder cleared his throat. “Mind if I come in?”

“A little,” Wildfire said honestly, but he moved from the doorway to create a path anyway. Oikawa entered and could hear the doors close behind him, Wildfire relocking it with a press of a button. “You’re in now..”

Oikawa nodded. “I just...I wanted to see how you were doing.”

“If that’s all, then that should be answered now, shouldn’t it?” the crow replied, moving back to sit on his bed. “I’m still here, I’m alive, and I’m tired. Happy?”

“Not exactly,” Oikawa said as he rubbed the back of his neck. He moved towards Wildfire carefully, not wanting a repeat of both times he habitually touched the crow. His arm had enough to worry about from enemies. “You haven’t been coming to eat with us lately. Iwaizumi’s getting worried.”

“I’m fine. I haven’t been hungry.”

“Now that is definitely a lie,” Oikawa insisted. “You usually eat more than Iwaizumi and I combined.”

When he saw the other’s lips twitch, Oikawa allowed his own to melt into a tiny smile. It fell when he remembered what he’d come for.

“We’re really sorry. Iwaizumi and the others are working hard, but you of all people should know how our jobs work. Sometimes there really isn’t much that can be done,” he explained, pausing. “That doesn’t mean that they’ve stopped completely,” he reminded. “It just means that what they are doing might not yield any results.”

Wildfire kept his head down, picking at his pants silently. He nodded after some thought, exhaling shakily. “She’s all I have left, Otter.”

Oikawa shut his eyes, working to maintain his composure. “I know. Which is why we’re getting her back. Have I ever lied to you?”

Shaking his head, Wildfire turned to look at him. “Not that I know of.”

“Not at _all_ ,” Oikawa assured, pouting for effect. “Do you not trust me?”

“No,” Wildfire began, Oikawa feeling his heart drop. “I mean, no as in I do trust you, but I wonder sometimes if I trust you too much,” he finished, raising a hand to ruffle his hair. “It’s just...you’re different. From who I’m used to being around. I feel like I should have taken longer considering how much I despised you at first.”

“How often will you wound me, Chibi-chan?”

This actually gained a real smile out of the crow, Wildfire shifting so his head was leaning against Oikawa’s shoulder. The latter tensed, looking down at the orange head of hair with shock.

“You’re good at this. I’m surprised. Thanks.”

Oikawa cleared his throat, bringing a hand up to the other’s hair and nodding. “Uh...of course. Anytime, really,” he said, trying to ignore the way his heart thumped wildly against his ribs. “We’ll get your sister back before you know it. She’s a crow like you, after all. I bet she’s a rock.”

* * *

 

The call in the middle of the night a few days later was the last lead they had expected.

“It’s probably just the crows,” Iwaizumi muttered as he rubbed his eyes.

Nodding, Oikawa kept an arm around Wildfire who was half conscious. Whenever he swayed, Oikawa would balance him, amused that his goggles were on even when he was obviously dead on his feet.

Iwaizumi’s typing stopped, brows furrowing. “Huh.”

Oikawa returned his attention to his partner walking closer with Wildfire struggling to keep his pace. “Is that a good huh or a bad huh?”

“A confused one. This call isn’t from the crows. It’s from a location the system can’t trace.”

“Should we take the risk in answering it, then?” Oikawa asked with a feeling at the pit of his stomach. “An untraceable call would mean it could be anyone.”

“Right. I’ll set up a recording. Just to cover our asses.”

Oikawa nodded. “Right,” he said as he looked down at Wildfire who was pressed into his chest breathing softly. “Ready when you are,” he murmured, too distracted for his own good.

“Taking call...now.”

The screen flickered, revealing an older looking woman with a calm smile on her face. She raised a hand, waving slowly.

_“Hello, Wildfire. You might not know me, but I know you quite well.”_

A confused sound left Wildfire as he rubbed his eyes, concentrating on the screen. He frowned.

_“We have some unfinished business, but it seems that the crows and some meddling snakes are trying to protect you from us. How cute.”_

If Wildfire hadn’t been awake before, he was now by the way he was staring at the screen with narrowed eyes. Oikawa squeezed his shoulder.

“Calm, Chibi-chan,” Oikawa warned as the crow swallowed.

“I’m calm,” Wildfire muttered, not sounding too convincing.

_“Realizing that we aren’t going to get you to make a grand entrance yourself, we decided to extend our invitation to you personally.”_

The woman on the screen let out a soft breath, shaking her head.

_“Your sister, as cute as she is, hasn’t served her original purpose. So I’ll keep this short. You for her.”_

“What?” Oikawa said aloud, tightening his hand around the other’s shoulder.

The woman on screen raised a hand, pointing a finger directly to the camera with a less than friendly gaze.

_“If you come, we’ll let her go. No catch. That way bygones will be bygones and we’ll be able to get our mess sorted accordingly.”_

“...Me?” Wildfire whispered, sounding so lost that Oikawa wanted nothing but to pull him from the room and away from the person on screen. “They want me?”

Oikawa stepping forward so he was beside Wildfire and gripped his partner’s chair. “Iwaizumi shut it off.”

“I’m working on it, Shittykawa.”

_“We’ll be waiting. But don’t wait too long...we’re very impatient people. We believe you’ll know where to go, Shouyou.”_

“Hajime!”

The video shut off without Iwaizumi having to do a thing, the snake breathing shakily. “That’s it,” he muttered.

The room was silent, not only because of the video but because of the fact that the person seemed to know Wildfire more than anyone could have thought.

“That wasn’t a call,” Oikawa growled. “It was them playing a game.”

Iwaizumi cleared his throat. “I’m...I’m going to run a full system scan,” he said with a deep frown. “I’ll let the crows know about this once the system is made sure to be clean of any bugs. You...You make sure the kid is alright.”

Oikawa looked around, not having realized that Wildfire had left the room in all the hysteria to get the video to stop. He shook his head. “No...he should have some time to process it. But I do have a question about what she said,” he admitted.

He clenched his fists. “The bounty was never on Natsu, was it?”

Iwaizumi paused in his typing,  the tension so thick that Oikawa knew the answer before he spoke

“No. No, it wasn’t.”

“And you knew that...didn’t you?” Oikawa continued, “You knew this whole time and didn’t tell either of us.”

“Swan told me not to tell anyone until they could make sure and....”

“Yeah, well was that video enough for you? They _know_ he is here now. What if we’d gone out on a supply run and someone had spotted him? He could have been taken and someone would have cashed out on it!”

Turning in his chair, Iwaizumi shot his partner a warning glare. “I’m well aware and you can punch me later if you want to,” he said with a bite in his tone. “Don’t think I haven’t already gone through all those possibilities in my head, Shittykawa.”

The made Oikawa pause, though his anger remained.

“If there’s a positive here, it’s that at least now we know they haven’t and won’t hurt the girl.”

“And what about Wildfire, huh?” Oikawa asked.  “Where’s his happy resolution to all of this? Because all I see is him giving himself up or someone using him as their ticket to becoming rich,” he said as he pointed towards the screen. “Because _that_ now makes everything he does outside of this place a suicide mission.”

“Shut up for just a second and let me think,” Iwaizumi demanded, narrowed eyes growing more irritated the longer his partner spoke. He leaned back in his chair and tried to will his still exhausted mind to work. “Ever since they took the kid’s sister, they’ve been waiting for something.  That false lead...I think they were trying to drag this out so that he’d go guns blazing.”

Oikawa kept his eyes on the ground but listened intently. Iwaizumi had a point.

“So that’s why there was no ransom for Natsu? Because they _expected_ him to go running?”

His partner nodded. “Without any contact, he’d get so antsy that he’d go to them willingly,” he said, cursing under his breath. “We’ve been thinking about this all wrong. This wasn’t some random kidnapping. Whoever these people are, they’ve been watching Wildfire and know more about him than we thought.”

The thought alone was enough to raise the mission’s threat level.  

“I still don’t get how they managed to track him down, though. Once the crows took him in, he should have been practically invisible to anyone not part of the facility,” Oikawa insisted. “There’s no way they infiltrated the upper sector and gotten information on both him and his sister without someone knowing.”

As soon as he’d finished saying those words, Iwaizumi froze. “Unless someone did know,” he suggested. “Whoever this is, they probably aren’t an outsider.”

“What makes you say that?” Oikawa asked with a raised brow.

Iwaizumi opened his drawer, pulling out his notebook and flipping through the pages. He stopped after a few seconds, having found what he was looking for. “Natsu only recently started visiting the facility against her brother’s wishes. That’s what Swan told us before we took the mission. Sound suspicious?”

It did, Oikawa had to admit. “So now what? Should we tell them they might have a double agent to worry about?”

Iwaizumi shook his head, standing “No. We’ll keep that under wraps for now, but keep an eye out. As for Wildfire, I think it’s time we took him back to the upper sector.”

“Excuse me?” Oikawa spat out in disbelief as he moved towards the door as well  “Did we not just establish that a dirty crow is kind of the issue here?”

“We did,” Iwaizumi reassured, walking towards his room. “So once morning hits, let’s try and find come up with a plan to weed them out.”

* * *

 

Oikawa paced outside of Wildfire’s door, a habit he seems to have gotten into more so recently.

How was he supposed to comfort him this time? Before, it had been simpler, but to hear that your only sibling was kidnapped because they meant to grab you? That’s way out of Oikawa’s realm of understanding. He was an only child and both his parents were still alive and well. That and his father had done an excellent job at keeping his mother and him safe considering how he still went on missions to this day. His mother, while not working for the facility, did work as a medic now, however. That meant that even if something did happen, they were all trained and...

“You gonna stand there all day?”

Oikawa sucked in a breath and nearly cursed, turning to see Wildfire staring at him with a raised brow.

“Oh, hey,” Oikawa said quickly, clearing his throat to lower his voice back to its normal tone. “I mean, uh, hi,” he greeted with a wave. “How are you doing today?”

“As good as I can,” the crow said, crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame. “A bit tired, if I’m being honest.”

“Do you want to talk abou—”

“No. Not right now.”

Oikawa nodded. “Well, do you want to talk at all? We could always just...pretend?” he suggested, not sure if the word was what he was aiming for.

Wildfire remained silent, nodding after pondering the offer. “Yeah. That’d be fine, I think.”

With that, he moved from the doorway to allow Oikawa entry. They moved to their familiar spots, however, this time they both lay on their backs. Neither one of them spoke, just breathing in and out in an attempt to relax fully.

“I brought you a copy of the call if you want it. If not, I can get rid of it.”

Wildfire shook his head. “It’s evidence. Destroying it would be detrimental to the case.”

“Look at you, thinking clearly.”

With a sad smile, Wildfire turned so his cheek pressed against the sheets and his face was turned towards Oikawa. “Not at all. It’s kinda a mess up here if I’m being honest.”

Oikawa shifted closer so he could ruffle the other’s hair gently. “Alright then, a new topic it is. Tell me more about yourself.”

“I’m not that interesting to talk about.”

“I beg to differ, Chibi-chan,” Oikawa promised, removing his hand. “There has to be more to you than spy work, eating three times your weight in food, and training until you pass out.”

Wildfire pushed some air from his nose, lips twitching as he shifted so his face was toward the ceiling again. “When I was younger, my parents really wanted my sister and I to be in sports. I played volleyball and my sister was super into soccer despite the ball being as big as her.”

Oikawa chuckled, trying to imagine it.

“I stopped playing volleyball after they passed just because the whole training thing started up. Even though I was still a kid, my grandfather had warned me that if I started, I would never be able to stop. I think he regretted putting that into my head considering how I went against his final wish because of it.”

Shaking his head, Oikawa kept his gaze on the crow. “I don’t think he would regret it. He made a strong person stronger. Mentors always know somewhere in their hearts that their biggest fear is also a common result.”

Wildfire cracked a smile. “I hope so.”

Not wanting the conversation to die, Oikawa shifted again. “Tell me more about the man who made you into a crow.”

“You really want to know about him?”

“Of course. He’s one of the reasons I got to meet you, isn’t he?”

Smiling wider, Wildfire bit his lower lip. “My grandfather was practically a god damn superhero.”

Oikawa snorted. “There we go. Keep going.”

Shifting so he was lying on his side, Wildfire placed an arm under his head as a makeshift pillow. “When I first met him, he was pretty scary. Once he started to train me, he got a lot warmer, though.  He would brag to people about how his blood was what made me a good fighter and all that. It’s probably why people started coming by and offering to train a runt of a kid,” he joked. “They all had such different styles and I was always excited to see who was next. Some people were nicer than others, but they all had good intentions so I couldn’t ever hate or be angry at them.”

Oikawa watched as Wildfire’s free hand absentmindedly traced the bed, drawing an unseen picture.

“If we hadn’t been attacked, I have no doubt that my training would have continued. To go from training every day for years to stopping so suddenly ached a bit. Like your body is confused as to why you stopped out of nowhere. Training by myself was a lot different than being with someone else.”

Wildfire sighed deeply.

“I think everything that happened freaked my grandfather out more than he’d like to admit. I never understood it, but now I think I do,” he confessed. “The thought that a person you love could get hurt because of you...it’s the worst.”

“I have no doubt about that,” Oikawa said. “But all the more reason to get stronger, right?”

“That was my logic too,” Wildfire said honestly. “But no matter how strong you are, there will always be something that makes you weak,” he said softly. “I was only Natsu’s age when my grandfather passed away. After four years with my grandfather, I was left to my own vices and felt powerless. The crows were surprisingly quick at scooping me and Natsu up before anyone else could, though.”

He stopped tracing as Oikawa cleared his throat.

“That makes it nearly five years that you’ve been with the crows then, doesn’t it?”

Wildfire let out a shaky laugh. “It does. How times flies when you’re being trained to the bone and trying not to die.”

Oikawa rolled his eyes, moving to his side and using his arm as a pillow as well. “I get that you like being a crow...but don’t you ever wish you could have been a normal kid? I mean, training from a young age is normal, but you must have been practically a fetus.”

Wildfire shrugged. “You’d think that, but honestly I can’t even imagine not training. I always just knew I’d have to fight. My life was never meant to be calm or relaxed.”

“You’re still young,” Oikawa reminded as Wildfire raised a brow. “You can still have it if you really wanted to.”

“Well, then what about you?” Wildfire asked curiously.

“What about me?”

“Have you ever wanted a calm and relaxed life?”

Oikawa pondered the question for a bit, shutting his eyes and humming. “It would be nice,” he admitted quietly. “But I do love what I do as well. Maybe just a vacation if I could?”

“Yeah. That sounds nice,” Wildfire agreed, his free hand fiddling with his goggles.

“What do you need a vacation from, oh young one?” Oikawa teased as Wildfire pursed his lips.

“You’re only like three years older!”

“Still older.”

“That doesn’t matter if you act all of five years old.”

“I resent that,” Oikawa said with a pout. “I’m at _least_ three times that.”

Wildfire’s laughter echoed in the room, his lips spreading into a wide smile. “Fine, you are at _least_ at the same mental capacity as my younger sister.”

“That’s all I’m saying.”

Oikawa couldn’t help but chuckle along with the crow, hoping that the conversation was at least somewhat helpful. He had never been good with people in a comforting aspect, but he found himself doing it a lot with Wildfire.

 _Willingly_.

“Hey Otter, can I ask you a favor?”

Oikawa returned his attention to the male lying beside him and nodded. “I don’t see why not.”

“When Natsu comes back, could you train her like you did me?”

Oikawa raised a brow. “You want me to train your sister despite all that’s happened?”

Wildfire nodded without hesitation. “The better prepared she is, the less likely this will ever happen again. She won’t be an agent, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t be trained like one.”

“Alright, question two: why can’t you train her?” Oikawa insisted, Wildfire going quiet. The crow moved to sit up, arms wrapping around himself as he shrugged.

“I just can’t.”

“You know short answers like that don’t work with me,” Oikawa reminded, pushing himself up so he was sitting as well. “So either tell me the real reason, or I’m afraid I can’t do you this favor.”

“I can’t train her because I’ve caused her enough pain with this whole situation. That better?”

“Is it the truth?”

“As close to it as you’ll get.”

Oikawa sighed. “You’re not going to tell me any more than you need to, are you?” he muttered. “Such a troublesome crow you are,” he teased as he nodded. “But...fine. I promise I’ll train her. _When_ she gets back.”

Wildfire straightened, turning to Oikawa with parted lips. “Really?”

“A promise is a promise,” Oikawa said, raising a hand in the air. “Boy scouts honor.”

“Wrong hand,” Wildfire whispered with another smile before he lunged and wrapped his arms around Oikawa’s neck tightly. “But thank you.”

Oikawa’s mind went blank, hands in the air as if unsure of what to do. “Y...you said to never touch you.”

Pulling away but keeping his arms loosely around his neck, Wildfire raised a brow. “Since when do you listen?”

“Since a short crow with a bad temper and apparent super strength nearly broke my arm and dislocated my shoulder not once, but twice before.”

Wildfire, unamused, no doubt rolled his eyes at Oikawa. “Otter?”

“Yeah?”

“Just hug me back, damnit.”

Biting back a smile, Oikawa shrugged, wrapping his arms around the other so suddenly, Wildfire yelped as he crashed into him.

“I’m counting this as another favor,” Oikawa teased quietly, chuckling when Wildfire hit him in the back in retaliation.

“Thanks again. For everything,” Wildfire murmured once he’d gone slack in the other’s hold.

Oikawa raised a brow, side-eyeing the crow curiously. Rather than make a smart comment, he just rubbed a hand along the crow’s back and hoped his heartbeat wasn’t too loud considering how it pounded in his own ears.

* * *

 

“Watching the video back, I’ve got nothing,” Iwaizumi said in defeat. “If I have to hear her smug voice any longer I think I might just lose it.”

Placing a cup of coffee in front of his partner, Oikawa leaned against the table and eyed the monitor. “There has to be some hint as to who or where they are,” he assured. “You’ll  have a breakthrough sooner or later.”

“Yeah, hopefully before Wildfire bursts,” Iwaizumi said with a frown. “He’s practically all packed for going back to the crows already. His patience is the only thing that hasn’t gotten better while here,” he muttered.

“While true, have some faith in him. He finally got a lead on his sister and he’s acting like anyone else would,” Oikawa defended. “He means well, Iwa-chan.”

Raising a brow, Iwaizumi sat up in his chair. “You seem to have gone from complimenting him to favoring him. What’s changed?”

Oikawa’s gaze shifted down to the hot chocolate in his cup. “I’m not favoring him, I’m just saying he’s a lot smarter than everyone seems to give him credit for.”

“You’ve never said that as a compliment about someone except yourself, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi pointed out as he grabbed his mug. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you had a thing for the kid,” he joked, taking a sip of coffee and eyeing his partner.

The redness on Oikawa’s cheeks was enough for Iwaizumi to choke in disbelief. Wiping his face with the back of his hand, he stared at Oikawa like he had gone mad. “Are you _kidding_ me?”

“It just happened!” Oikawa hissed.

“You…I told you to become a friend, not a potential suitor!”

Oikawa rolled his eyes. “I repeat: it just _happened_. I don’t even know when it changed myself, but all I know is that it isn’t something easily ignored,” he muttered with a scowl. “Can we not talk about it right now? It’s really not that big a deal. It’s a crush. I’ll get over it.”

Iwaizumi rubbed his temples, willing himself to calm before nodding. “Alright. As long as you don’t let that blind you, we should be fine.”

“As if I would,” Oikawa said with an insulted expression. “And besides, it’s not as if he’d be concerned with that with what’s happening. The mission comes fir—Iwaizumi Hajime don’t you dare give me that look,” he warned.

“What look? I’m not giving you a look,” Iwaizumi denied, returning his attention to the monitor. “Anyway, I let Swan know we were coming back and made sure no one else at the base knows. We leave tomorrow morning so that we can avoid letting anyone who doesn’t need to know that he’s gone missing.”

Oikawa nodded. He’d expected at least two days, but the sooner the better. “You know,” he began aloud, eyeing his partner. “I’m surprised you told Wildfire about going back before finalizing. That’s so unlike you.”

Iwaizumi paused. “I thought you told him we were going back?”

Shaking his head slowly, Oikawa placed his mug down. “I didn’t say a word.”

The two men stared at each other before dropping everything and running out of the common room. They moved down the hall, not stopping until they reached Wildfire’s door. Oikawa knocked rather roughly, heart pounding in his chest.

No response.

“Fuck,” Iwaizumi muttered, digging his master key out and flashing it against the panel. When it opened, they entered the room to see it was bare of anything and anyone.  “ _Fuck_.”

Oikawa stepped into the room and looked around, feeling somewhat dizzy at the realization that everything was gone. His mind moved to rationalize that maybe, it was just empty because Wildfire cleaned before leaving.  He’d always been a tidy agent, so it’d make sense. The longer he stood in the room without a sign of Wildfire, however, he knew he was kidding himself.

He moved to the other’s nightstand, spotting the drive but nothing else.

Iwaizumi’s breath of disbelief caught his attention, the other muttering under his breath.

“Have some faith, huh?”

 


	3. It's Up to You—

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clicking on the video, the two men watched for anything, not knowing what to expect. The screen played in darkness for a few moments, overexposed the next. Once it leveled out, the two were met with a familiar face.
> 
>  
> 
> _“I hope this is working...if not, then, uh, well, I guess it won’t matter.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Git ready.   
> I apologize ahead of time for the next few chapters :O
> 
> ~Hxl

“You should get some rest.”

Oikawa remained at his desk, shaking his head. “I’m fine.”

“We both know that’s a lie.”

His chair was forcefully spun around until he came face to face with an irritated Iwaizumi. The other was less than amused, brows furrowed and lips in a thin line. He looked...well, how Oikawa felt. 

Shitty. 

“Let go,” Oikawa demanded. 

“Not on your life,” Iwaizumi said easily. “Especially not when you’ve been avoiding everyone and have yourself holed up like some kind of animal.”

“Iwaizumi, please.”

Raising a brow, Iwaizumi shook his head. “You need to rest. What would Wildfire think if he saw you like this?” 

“Doesn’t matter much considering he isn’t here.”

The other scowled. “So now he doesn’t matter when barely a week ago you admit you liked him?”

Oikawa looked away, crossing his arms and already feeling his vision begin to blur at the edges. His eyes were begging for him to rest, but he continued to glare at the ground. “I told you it was a stupid crush.”

“I know crushes. Crushes don’t make you want to span the Earth to find someone.” 

Gritting his teeth, Oikawa worked to swallow the lump in his throat. 

“We fucked up. But we can still make this right,” Iwaizumi said, eyes set on his partner. “We still have the fact that we know someone is working from the inside. And if he left the drive, it might have something that we could use. You said yourself he’s smarter than he looks, right?”

“I know he is,” Oikawa said without hesitation, meeting Iwaizumi’s gaze to see the other was smirking slightly. 

“Good. Now before we start, go and take a fucking nap, at least. You’re crap when you’re not well rested.”

Looking over his shoulder at the files on his desk and then back to Iwaizumi, he parted his lips. 

“You fight me on this and I might just punch you in the face,” Iwaizumi offered. “Your choice.”

Oikawa figured that if Iwaizumi was still able to make a half-joke like that while half exhausted, it would be worth a shot. He sure as hell wasn’t getting anywhere with his own work. 

“Fine.”

* * *

 

“Whenever you’re ready.”

Oikawa sat in his room, showered and a lot more clear-headed than before. The drive in his hand felt heavy, but he wasn’t sure if it was the shaking of his hands or the guilt that seemed to linger. 

He plugged it in, opening it up and wondering whether the second video he was seeing was real or not. 

“Definitely smarter than he looks.”

Clicking on the video, the two men watched for anything, not knowing what to expect. The screen played in darkness for a few moments, overexposed the next. Once it leveled out, the two were met with a familiar face. 

_ “I hope this is working...if not, then, uh, well, I guess it won’t matter.” _

“Knew it,” Iwaizumi said. “He wouldn’t leave without some kind of last words.”

Oikawa agreed wholeheartedly, wondering why he felt so relieved. Wildfire hadn’t just abandoned them like he’d thought. He might have seen that much faster had he not been frantic trying to solve the case himself. He’d forgotten the first rule: keep emotions out of it. 

_ “If you’re seeing this, you decided to open the drive again like I hoped you would. So...congratz.” _

The crow turned his face away from the camera, only to face it head on once he managed some courage to continue.

_ “It’s probably a lot more obvious to you both at the time that you’re watching, but I have a bad feeling about these people behind the video. The fact that they’d been able to track me down...there’s something fishy there.” _

Oikawa nodded despite knowing it was a recording and the other couldn’t see him. 

_ “They never gave me a specific location to meet them, meaning they expected me to put some pieces together, and I still haven’t really,”  _ he admitted, “ _ but a lead is a lead and I’ll take what I can get. I’m leaving this to let you know I’m not going to them at this point...I’m going somewhere to find someone who may be able to help us. Let’s hope that once I figure this all out, you’ll actually get coordinates for Natsu.” _

A weak smile from the agent on the screen. 

_ “I know you both probably hate me and feel hurt about me leaving, but just know it was either that or risk everyone involved in my mess.” _

Iwaizumi shifted, looking uncomfortable at the claim.

_ “You both tried to keep it from me, but I know very well that your livelihoods were compromised considering that you received that message. Someone had to have known I was there, meaning someone had to have tipped whoever these people are off. It’s probably a crow, meaning that Swan and the rest of them are probably also compromised. I need to get off the map for a bit.” _

Wildfire wrapped his arms around himself as if debating what else to say. 

_ “All that is left to say is that is that these people obviously want me to come willingly and are only playing dirty because their members got the wrong person,”  _ he said softly.  _ “While it may seem like I’m playing into their game, I’m not giving up, so neither should you two. I’ll be the bait and you guys do what you can to make sure that Natsu and I don’t die. Mainly Natsu.” _

“What a crazy kid,” Iwaizumi whispered, unable to keep the chuckle that left his lips quiet. 

_ “Keep in mind that not everyone is as trustworthy as they might claim. Don’t make the same mistake I made. It’s not paranoia so much as a survival instinct.” _

“Sounds like you,” Oikawa mused as Iwaizumi kept his gaze on the screen. 

_ “And Otter.”  _

Oikawa’s amusement slipped away in seconds.

_ “Don’t forget what we talked about. If what I’m thinking is true, it might just help in the long run.” _

* * *

 

Swan snapped his head towards the door in surprise, not having expected Oikawa and Iwaizumi to burst into the research room so suddenly. 

“We need your help,” Oikawa began, bowing his head in apology.

“It’s nice to see you up and around, Otter...though please don’t nearly break down the door next time. We need that.”

“Sorry, but it’s urgent.”

Swan looked at Iwaizumi as the other nodded in agreement. Sighing, Swan nodded and eyed the two agents he’d been speaking with. “Loon, Jay, please excuse me.”

“Actually,” Iwaizumi insisted, bowing his head to the two crows. “If you wouldn’t mind leaving us to our business here...”

The shorter male stood slowly, eyeing them both in confusion but nodding. “It really isn’t an issue,” he assured, the taller one not appearing to agree. “Come on, Jay. Let the big dogs do their business.”

Jay, with some tugging from who Oikawa assumed was Loon, finally moved to stand, glaring into Iwaizumi and Oikawa before exiting the research room and shutting the door behind them. 

Swan motioned for them to sit, moving to do so himself and lacing his fingers together. “So what was so important that it got the bear out of his cave?” he questioned, looking between them both. 

“We’re sorry for barging in like that,” Iwaizumi assured. “But thanks to a video from Wildfire himself, we have reason to believe that there is a double agent amongst your crows.”

“What?” Swan asked with a deep breath, hands lowering to rest against the table. “You know I respect you both and trust you with my life, but that...that is a very broad claim to make with little to no evidence. Especially considering how you aren’t exactly in the higher ups good graces due to Wildfire being labeled MIA.”

“Which is why we need your help, Swan. I know this seems impossible, but so did Natsu being kidnapped while staying here,” Iwaizumi reminded. “I know for sure you trust Wildfire and even he had the same train of thought we did...that has to mean something coming from your own crow.”

Oikawa nodded. “You offered him the decision of becoming a crow because you saw something him. Now it’s time for you to have some faith in whatever you saw.”

“How did you…” Swan began with a furrow of his brows before shaking his head. “Doesn’t matter. And as for your claim...I’ll attempt to put my own feelings aside to be of any assistance I can. I’m not completely sold on this possibility, however.”

Iwaizumi shot Oikawa a look before returning his gaze back to Swan. “We won’t let you down.”

* * *

 

The research room became their home away from home for the next few days. 

They went through file after file that held any information on Wildfire: from missions to who his partners were to who he associated with. At first, Oikawa had felt it was a complete and utter invasion of privacy, but Wildfire himself had told them not to give up, and so he wouldn’t let him down. 

Loon and Jay popped in every so often, but they never stayed long, opting to go train after reporting to Swan about anything on Natsu. As far as Oikawa knew, they had all decided to keep the fact that Wildfire was missing as well under wraps, strictly to avoid worrying about the other agents. Even Oikawa could see they both were close to Wildfire with the way Jay glared at him whenever they were in the same room and how Loon went on and on about the many adventures they’d gone on. 

“Hey Swan, something has honestly been bugging me since we started looking at files.”

Swan looked up from his screen, glasses resting atop his head. “That being?”

“Wildfire’s mission lists. I see a lot of solos here, but barely any group or pairs. He has a partner according to you, doesn’t he?”

“Ah, he does. The decision to keep him on solos was  more so on the sector, really,” he explained. “While he is an excellent fighter, he had no experience with our protocol or rules since he didn’t go through the recruitment process like everyone else. They were concerned about how he’d fare in a real world situation and to be honest, so was I,” he admitted. “They were somewhat harsher on him, but he made it evident that he could handle it.”

“So what about this group mission of his?” Iwaizumi went on, flipping the page. “Says it was a failed squad mission but doesn’t give much to me.”

“Oh, that was a mission that he’d been recommended for. I believe it was Rook and the others who asked for him specifically as a way to get his spirits up. The removal from his first mission really put a damper on his confidence.”

“Why was he removed? I don’t see anything here about past strikes or violations.”

Swan shook his head. “He wasn’t removed for a violation,” he stated. “It was due to a lack of synchronization between him and the other agent meant for the mission.  In all the simulations, they would end up with a pretty awful outcome. Since the other agent was the more experienced on group missions, obviously they went with him. I believe that Loon was the replacement for him.” 

“Loon being Jay’s current partner?” 

“Right,” Swan said with a chuckle. “Considering that those two are practically polar opposites according to Wildfire and Rook, I was pretty surprised. Whatever works, though. Their success rate for missions is rather high and often has little to no injuries to report.”

Iwaizumi hummed.  “Considering how successful they all are, I wonder why the mission was a failure.”

Oikawa agreed silently. Looking at Wildfire’s file, it was the only failed mission he had. What was even stranger was that while it was ruled a failure, not one crow was injured.

“Were these three the only other people on the mission with him?” Oikawa asked curiously. 

“Pretty much. There were originally supposed to be two others, however one was injured and the other was hospitalized a day before. Rather than introducing a new pair and risking incompatibility, the higher-ups decided to send them alone.”

With a deep sigh, Iwaizumi leaned back and rubbed at his neck. “Still no motive for why whoever sent the video is targeting him.” 

“Maybe he just pissed off the wrong people? That’s not exactly hard to do with our line of work,” Oikawa tossed out. “He did have a lot of undercover missions...maybe someone caught wind of who he was and wanted to make him know it?”

“If that was the case why bother with the formalities? That paired with the possibility of a double agent...they could have planned to take him at any point in here,” Swan pointed out. “So why bothering waiting?”

The three went silent. It was a damn good question. They had grabbed Natsu and remained undetected. No camera footage showing suspicious activity, no reports...so why wouldn’t they just take Wildfire once they realized their mistake? What was the point of bait?

Iwaizumi clicked his tongue, gaining both their attention. “You sent him to us, that’s why,” he reminded. “Whoever the traitor is, they seem to have been close to Wildfire to get as much information as they did. That means that with us, they were practically given no option but to let whoever they were working for take the wheel and force our hand.”

Oikawa looked at Swan, the crow looking exhausted. He seemed dazed, but Oikawa couldn’t blame him. All the information they were discussing led to evidence of a rat that had managed to sneak around under his nose. Oikawa might have been just as exhausted with that weighing on him. 

“It’s a lot,” Swan murmured, eyeing the larger screen silently. “But…” the crow added, standing without another word and moving towards the board. He placed on the glove, beginning to move and order things around. When it was organized in a way he preferred, he started writing away.

“Uh...Swan?” Iwaizumi began, but said male held a hand up to silence him. 

They let the other continue without another word. Minutes later, Swan seemed content with how everything was organized before turning to face the others.

“The timing...doesn’t it seem weird?” he asked. “After months of visiting, Natsu only goes missing after Wildfire has his first group mission?”

Iwaizumi squinted, Oikawa sitting straighter in his chair. That was awfully convenient timing. 

“Now you mention it...” Oikawa began slowly. “Do you think that there could be a link between the two?”

“There has to be ,” Swan said confidently. 

“Well don’t leave us in the dark,” Iwaizumi said, motioning for him to go on. “Let us hear what you're thinking. This could be what we’ve been looking for.”

Zooming out with a flick of his wrist, Swan pointed toward the mission details they’d summarized.

“The gang they were busting was pretty off the radar if I remember right. Dangerous, but relatively underground. It was only one of five gangs we ended up encountering in the same area and we had a reason to assume that it wasn’t a coincidence. We believed that these people were actually affiliated with an unofficial facility.”

“That’s...not impossible,” Oikawa murmured. Corrupt facilities weren’t as frequent as they had been back when Oikawa was a newbie, but the ones that were capable of hiding were usually the most worrisome. 

“Knowing this, there’s no way that all of our crows should have gotten out of there without so much as an injury. I didn’t notice at the time because I was just relieved they were all alright, but it’s definitely a red flag that not one of them came back with at least a wound of some sort.”

“Agreed,” Iwaizumi said as he eyed the screen. “A facility just letting them go is...suspicious. Do you have any more information on why it was a failure?” 

“All the trucks except for the one that they escaped in were empty according to what they reported. All of them agreed it seemed to be some kind of set up or possible distraction for some other transaction that could have been happening that day.” 

Oikawa frowned. “Is it me, or does it sound like you crows were being baited into showing up?”

“No, it’s not just you,” Swan assured. “Whoever these people were, they had been expecting us. I know it may seem like a leap, but there was no way they would have been able to know we were on to them. That only leaves the fact that they were informed of our plans ahead of time and changed their own accordingly.”

Iwaizumi shook his head. “But that would mean the rat had to have been on…” he trailed off, Swan nodding as Iwaizumi let out a breath. “The rat was on the mission.”

While it all pointed to that, Oikawa still had questions.  “That still leaves the question of why they even bothered to go that far to get them all out into the open just to let them go?”

Iwaizumi grabbed the other glove and slipped it on. “Whoever these people are, they’re smart, that’s why,” he said. “If the rat that is connected to the people who sent us the video is the same rat that caused the mission to fail, then the entire thing was probably a way to draw Wildfire out into the open,” he explained.  “Their goal back then wasn’t to catch him. It was to get proof that their rat had the right guy. They wanted to see Wildfire in the flesh before forcing him to go to them. It’s a sick game of reverse hide and seek.”

Swan moved to sit, shaking his head and cursing under his breath. “Those three are all involved in Natsu’s missing person case...I thought they were all just willing to volunteer because they cared. My naivety put this entire case in jeopardy.”

Iwaizumi reached out, placing a hand on Swan’s shoulder. “You couldn’t have known considering that whoever it is managed to keep themselves from all of us before that video.”

Swan didn’t look convinced. “I still should have kept a closer eye on it all. I might be of some more use if I had.”

Oikawa stood slowly, joining the other two men near the screen. “You’ve been plenty of use,” he assured. “Glove?” 

Swan removed the one he was wearing and held it out. Oikawa  slipped it on and shifted until he got back to the crow list,  circling three names and deleting the rest. “But now this is where Iwaizumi and I come in.”

“So what’s the game plan, Otter?” 

Writing down the connection between the kidnapping case and the failed bust for his own sake, Oikawa turned. “Simple. We bring in the possible rats and tell them the exact opposite of what they want to hear.”

* * *

 

“Wildfire’s been hurt?!” 

Besides the shock Oikawa had gotten when he realized that  _ Rook _ was his cousin, everything seemed to be going according to plan. They had all gotten some rest and—after a night of planning—called the three possible rats into the research room. 

“It seems as if someone attacked him while he was on a supply run back at the sector. We’re still waiting for some news, but he’s stable.”

The lies felt heavy on Oikawa’s tongue considering the last thing he wanted was to imagine Wildfire injured, but it seemed to be doing its job as Loon slammed his hands against the table and stood. 

“He’ll be alright, though, right?” he asked with a deep frown. “Like, he won’t… _ die _ , right?” 

“I doubt it. The dumbass is strong and stubborn. This won’t take him down,” Rook assured, though Oikawa could tell his cousin was putting on a strong front. 

“You have to be joking,” Jay said quietly, eyes narrowed on Oikawa and Iwaizumi. If he hadn’t liked them before, Oikawa was positive he hated them now, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

“Far from it,” Oikawa said with his best apologetic look. 

“Excuse my language,” Jay said as he stood, standing beside his partner and bowing his head at Swan before continuing. “But fuck you.”

“Jay,” Loon said with a small hitch in his tone. “He doesn’t mean that!” he tried to assured, looking nervously between Oikawa and his partner. “He’s just shocked. We all are, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have faith that y—”

“No, I mean it and I don’t have any faith in them,” Jay insisted, Loon groaning and keeping a hold on his arm. Jay raised his hand as Loon flinched and backed away. “Stop that. You can’t say you aren’t angry that these  _ agents _ who were supposed to be the best allowed for Wildfire to get hurt.”

Loon paused, biting his lower lip and looking at Oikawa unsurely. “I mean, of course, I am,” he said softly, “but we all need to remain as level-headed as possible. If Wildfire is hurt, then that means we need to pick up the slack to find Natsu.”

“Loon’s right,” Rook agreed. “There’s no doubt that whoever attacked him had to have been the same people who took his sister. They’re getting more aggressive and we need to be wary of that.”

“So we’re not going to hold them responsible?” Jay demanded. “I’m sorry, but this is one thing that we disagree on.”

“I know that this comes as quite a shock, but you all need to realize that these two came back here in order to help with finding Natsu. While I’m...hurt that Wildfire managed to get caught and injured, at least he is still with us, right?”

“Right,” Look said, patting Rook and Jay’s arms. “Wildfire wouldn’t want us to be arguing about whose fault it was. He’d just say something like ‘catch the guy who did it and take him down!’” the crow said as he pumped his fists. When neither crow beside him reacted, he sighed and plopped back into his seat. “If Wildfire was here he would have done that with me.”

Jay glared at his partner before turning to leave the room. “You’re all making too lightly of this, and if anything happens to him, I’ll hold it against you,” he said. Despite having his back turned, everyone in the room knew who the words were directed towards. He left the room and slammed the door behind him, Loon jumping as he parted his lips. No words came out, and he faltered and directed his eyes towards his lap. 

“Jesus,” Rook said as he leaned forward, placing a hand on Loon’s shoulder. “You know how he gets. Don’t let him get you down.”

“I’m not down,” Loon mumbled. “I’m just confused as to why this has happened to Wildfire. He never did anything wrong. All he wanted to do was protect Natsu and everything's just so messed up an—”

“Hey Loon,” Oikawa offered, the blond crow looking up. “How about we take a walk or something? Clear your head.”

Iwaizumi shot him a look, but Oikawa pretended not to notice.

“Is that alright? Shouldn’t we be, well...working?”

Oikawa nodded. “We should,” he agreed, “but we can’t do that with a fuzzy head, can we?”

Loon seemed to perk at that. “No,” he said with a bright smile back, seeming to bounce back well. “We can’t.”

* * *

 

“So...anything?”

“Not yet,” Swan murmured, chewing on his lower lip. “Jay is sulking in his room, Loon is bouncing around the other crows, and Rook is training as usual.” 

Oikawa sighed. “In all honesty, I can see why you never noticed anything out of the ordinary. Besides having anger issues against Iwaizumi and me, Jay seems somewhat normal. Loon reminds me of Wildfire with how excited he gets, and Rook...well, I’m just holding out and hoping it isn’t my own family who is behind this,” he muttered honestly.  

Swan didn’t look away from his monitors but smiled a tiny bit to show he was listening. “I know, Otter.”

The two spies returned to their own thoughts, sitting in the crow’s room and waiting for Iwaizumi to arrive. 

Oikawa was still half asleep when Swan showed up to his room not too long before, talking about how Iwaizumi wanted them both to meet to talk about Wildfire’s ‘injuries’. Confused, Oikawa just did as told, surprised when Iwaizumi wasn’t in the room himself. It was odd, arriving before his partner considering Oikawa’s track record of being late even at the worst times. 

He still managed to do his job, though, so he supposed that helped him out some. 

Deciding to make himself useful, Oikawa stood and stretched out his limbs, tapping Swan on the shoulder. “Give your eyes a break, I’ll take a shift for now.”

“I’m alright,” Swan said, but when he looked away for just a moment, his eyes were red and watering. Oikawa wasn’t sure if it was the exhaustion creeping in or the fact that he was hurt about one of his crows being a double agent, but he didn't make any comments. If there was one thing he’d learned about Swan week or so of working with him, it’s that he really did work hard to put aside all emotion. 

“Just let me. Go rest your eyes. You and Iwa-chan said yourselves that we all need to be well rested in order to do our best.”

Swan stared at him for a few moments, lips twitching into a tired smile. “You got me there, Oikawa.”

“Oh, real name basis?” Oikawa teased despite the fact that the code names really were just for show when not on a mission. Oikawa himself didn’t mind when people used it around the bases, but Iwaizumi despised it. It was partially why no one ever used it unless they wanted to bother him. 

“Shut up and get on watch,” Swan said with a chuckle, standing to allow Oikawa a place to sit. Oikawa would have, as well, if not for the fact that Swan’s legs gave out from beneath him and had the brunet lurching forward. 

“Shit.”

“Sorry,” Swan muttered, placing a hand on his head. “Just got up too fast. Dizzy,” he assured as he patted the other’s arm. 

“Right...are you sure you’re—”

The door opened as the two agents turned to see Iwaizumi, his face somewhat red and a small bag tightly clenched in one fist and pieces of paper in the other.

“Iwa-chan? Where’ve you…”

“We need to find out who the agent is  _ now _ ,” his partner growled, stepping inside the room and making sure the door was closed. He flung the bag he had to the ground, it clanking at the impact. 

Forgetting the awkwardness of the Swan situation, Oikawa moved towards it and opened it up. Little black pieces of tech, much of which was destroyed beyond repair. He raised a brow, looking back and forth between the items and his partner. 

“What is this stuff?”

“Microphones and cameras,” Iwaizumi said with a dark tone, holding the paper up next to see words messily scrawled over it. 

“‘Nice Try, but try, try again?’” Oikawa read aloud as he felt his blood run cold. “Where...did you find these?” he asked weakly. 

“Take a wild guess,” Iwaizumi said with a curse. He paced, running a hand through his hair. Oikawa had never seen him so flustered. His partner was  _ always _ one step ahead of anyone they had ever faced. The fact that for once this was something that he hadn’t even seen coming...

“I should have known,” Iwaizumi said with a laugh of disbelief. “I knew I had a feeling about that room, damnit. I always had the fucking creeps in there and just thought it was cause I wasn’t used to being here…” he muttered with a shake of his head. “But it seems our little rat is a lot smarter than we originally thought. And now that he knows that Wildfire’s injuries are bullshit, there’s no doubt that he’s probably reported that we know who they are and everything.”

“So what do we do now?” Swan asked as he moved to sit. “We’ve lost the element of surprise and no doubt are twenty steps behind now.”

Oikawa frowned deeply, knowing this was all bad. This was probably the worst thing that could have happened at this point. He rubbed his temples, trying his best to remain as clear-headed and calm as he could. With the risk of a double agent, they not only had to find Wildfire and Natsu, but whoever the threat was before they could crush all of them under their heel. 

“Looks like one mission became three,” Oikawa said aloud, eyeing his Swan and Iwaizumi with a weak smile. “Good thing there’s three of us, right?”

  
  



	4. —To Find Something to Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No,” Jay repeated. “I didn’t want to say this, but I don’t feel comfortable with Loon being with...him.”
> 
> Oikawa blinked, raising a brow. “Excuse me?”

Oikawa could feel his limit coming after days of simply  _ watching _ .

Keeping tabs on the lives of Rook, Loon, and Jay was far from entertaining, especially considering how they all seemed to do the same exact things over and over. Crows were always said to be rather energetic in some way, shape, or form, but the only one that followed through on that stereotype was Loon. Jay would either be in his room, at the training grounds, or in the kitchen with Loon. Rook was similar to Jay, training or in his room. His cousin was exactly as Oikawa had remembered him to be.

Loon, on the other hand, would always be bouncing around, not training as much as his partner but just as excited to eat food. It reminded him an awful lot of Wildfire and he’d be a liar if he said it didn’t make him miss the crow even more.

After realizing they’d been bugged, Swan had decided to send the three suspects off on their own, having no choice but to stick with the lie of Wildfire’s injury. As a result, they had every other room they’d been in checked for bugs, thankfully coming up clean. Instead, however, they began to bug the common places and outside of the two rooms that the three crows occupied. It was just to be safe and mostly for Iwaizumi’s sake. He’d taken to smiling darkly whenever the bugs were mentioned, talking about how he would crush the rat himself.

Whoever the rat was, he must have been confident in his abilities in order to tip off Iwaizumi like that.

“Oikawa, food,” Iwaizumi’s voice murmured, the other sounding just as dead as Oikawa felt.

“Thanks.”

He ate quietly, knowing that he would need to end up getting some sleep eventually. His brain was fried and if he couldn’t even rely on it, that was a sign for him to let Iwaizumi and Swan take over.

Standing, Oikawa yawned and nodded at his partner. “Keep an eye on them, yeah?”

“Yeah, just go sleep Shittykawa.”

Taking the nickname as a sign Iwaizumi was alright, he gave a salute before leaving Swan’s room, moving down the hall towards his own. He hadn’t gone back to it in a while, too focused on making sure the crows were being monitored properly.

“Otter!”

Oikawa jumped, snapping from his thoughts to see Loon bouncing towards him, Jay following behind. “Hey...what’re you guys doing in this wing?” he asked with a conflicted smile. He hadn’t seen them on the cameras, sure, but he could have sworn that Jay and Loon were at the other end of the base having just left the training room. He could be getting the structuring wrong, though, considering he didn’t really train where he could be seen.

“Jay wanted to talk to Swan about something and I just tagged along for the sake of coming. We haven’t seen you all in days!”

“We don’t need to tell him anything, Loon,” Jay stated, narrowed eyes set on Oikawa. “Not when they’re keeping things from us.”

Loon tensed at Jay’s words, grabbing his partner’s sleeve and tugging. “Stop that, will you? They’ve been chasing a lead, you can’t expect an update every hour of every day,” he muttered. “Besides, Swan told me that Wildfire was doing better! That’s  _ good _ news.”

“Did he?” Jay asked with the quirk of a brow, Loon nodding.

“He did, so stop being mean to the snakes and be a nice little crow.”

“You’re the little one,” Jay muttered as Loon flushed a bit.

“That’s beside the point. Just  _ please _ stop trying to look for a fight.”

“I would if they would just go back to their sector and leave this mission to u—”

“As much,” Oikawa interrupted, his smile growing tense the longer he was around Jay, “as I would  _ love _ to be insulted by a crow who knows nothing at all, I’m going to get some rest,” he said, Jay scrunching his nose at the words. “So, if you’d excuse me…” he said as he moved around them both to the next door despite his room being several more down.

“I bet if you guys didn’t act like you could do this all yourself, I’d know even more than I do now.”’

Pausing, Oikawa turned and narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”

Without another word, Jay turned away to move toward Swan’s room without so much as a glance back. Loon’s lips were pressed in a thin line, his head bowing to Oikawa.

“I’m really sorry,” he whispered, voice tired and a lot quieter than usual. “Jay really isn’t usually this difficult, but he took the Wildfire news extra hard. He even went as far as to say you guys were lying and feeding us info so we couldn’t find him”

Straightening, Oikawa did his best to remain composed. “When did he say that?”

“A day or so ago, I think,” Loon said, not seeming entirely sure. “I just...I  _ know _ you wouldn’t lie to Swan, though. You might not trust us just yet, but I know that Lion and Swan are pretty close. Which means you must be close to him too. At first, I wasn’t completely sure, but Wildfire always said that trust was the way to go,” he joked, holding a fist in the air. “So, I would hope you’d trust us just as much, or at least a little more than you do now.”

Oikawa parted his lips, watching as Loon’s face fell, quickly shifting to nervous.

“I said a lot. See you later, Otter! Get some sleep!”  he said before Oikawa could get another word in, running off to catch up with his partner.

Amused at how flustered he’d gotten, Oikawa sighed and ruffled his hair. The more he looked into the three crows, the less he felt like any of them were a part of it. He knew, however, just how that was wishful thinking. He moved down the hall, trying to ignore the way his gut twisted.

* * *

 

“We got coordinates!”

Oikawa snapped his head towards the two from his laptop, Iwaizumi and Swan having similar reactions. When no one seemed to respond, Loon deflated before running towards Oikawa and pulling on his sleeves.

“Did you not hear me?” Loon said before pointing at his partner. “Jay is a genius and got the coordinates after staying up last night!”

Looking at Jay, the crow looked vastly uncomfortable, arms crossed and eyes downcast. “I didn’t... _ do _ much,” he said after some thought, not seeming to enjoy the praise. “I just took over and a few hours later I got weird activity from a location that we had pinpointed originally. It was reinforced when we got a weird call which ended up just being someone reading out numbers.”

“Do you have a recording of the call?” Iwaizumi asked, Jay frowning and shaking his head.

“I didn’t think to record it.”

“Not even after we told you to? Any and all calls, remember?” Swan asked, rubbing his eyes with a sigh.

“I was half asleep, in all honesty. I forgot.”

It was a weak excuse, Oikawa thought, narrowing in on the crow.

“What matters is we have our lead,” Loon insisted, looking to Jay with a small nod of reassurance. “Just because he couldn’t record it doesn’t mean that it should take away from the fact that he managed to make the connection so quickly. If it was anyone else that late in the night, they could have missed it completely.”

Jay relaxed, for the first time offering an expression other than stoic to his partner. “Thanks,” he murmured, raising a hand to ruffle Loon’s hair gently. The action itself made Loon’s smile brighter until Jay continued speaking.  “But I really didn’t do as much as you’re claiming.”

“Regardless, we can’t be sure that this isn’t a trap, so I’d say we should proceed with caution,” Oikawa murmured, the timing being way too perfect for it to be anything other than that.

“Why would it be a trap?” Rook asked with a raised brow. “It isn’t like we’re even aware of the people that took her…” he paused, tilting his head. Oikawa could feel his eyes burning into him.  “Or are we?”

Iwaizumi shot Oikawa a look, the brunet apologizing silently for his big mouth. He’d gotten too overwhelmed with all that was running through his mind.

“We...might have some thoughts,” Swan admitted, Loon and Rook looking surprised. Jay, on the other hand, had a somewhat smug expression, scowl on his lips.

“When were you going to tell us this? That would have been pretty useful to know,” Rook said, Jay shaking his head and looking down at Loon.

He moved his hand from the other’s head to around his shoulders as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “That’s exactly what I meant. They’ve been hiding things from us,” he insisted, using his other hand to point at Iwaizumi and Oikawa. “They don’t trust us, and made you think that they did.”

Loon looked back and forth between his partner and the two snakes, biting his lower lip.“Have you been hiding things from us, Otter?”

The tone itself screamed that Loon wanted him to deny it, but he couldn’t do that and still be truthful.

“Why? Wouldn’t this be the opposite of beneficial?” Loon said as Jay pulled him even closer. This time, Loon raised an arm to hug his partner back. “Would you have told us at all?”

“Of course,” Oikawa promised. “But it wasn’t proven as fact and we didn’t want to say one thing only to go back on it,” he said with a deep sigh. “This seems to have been the proof needed, though.”

“A bit too late considering we’re all supposed to be a team,” Jay said under his breath, Loon lowering his head to the ground.

The room dove into an uncomfortable silence as if no one wanted to say anything that might be the wrong thing. Iwaizumi looked concerned about Swan, while the white-haired male looked more concerned about Loon. Either Loon was a fantastic actor, or he was caught up in the nonsense that was this case.

Oikawa was willing to bet on the latter.

“We shouldn’t just sit around, then. We need to decide a game plan for going about checking out whether Natsu is at this location or not,” Swan spoke, tone heavy.

Loon raised his head, immediately nodding despite the obvious way his eyes grew glassy. “Well then, I recommend Jay be one of the agents on the mission without a doubt,” he insisted. “You and Otter should also go considering how well you both know the case. I’d say that this mission doesn’t call for many people, but you should have at least three so that if something happens, one of you can at least protect Natsu.”

Swan nodded in consideration, Jay shaking his head at the thought.

“No, I haven’t done a solo in a while,” he argued. “Besides, Rook is his partner and knew Natsu better than I ever did.”

“But you told me you had a heart to heart with her,” Loon reminded. “That counts for something.”

“Personally,” Swan interrupted, eyeing Oikawa and Iwaizumi. “I believe that Loon is correct. Otter and I should be present on this mission. This isn’t an assignment that is heavily offense based, but if it becomes one as such we can adjust accordingly.”

“I’ll stay behind and help you guys out from here,” Iwaizumi assured, Swan smiling slightly at him.

“Thank you,” Swan said before returning his attention to the crows. “Jay, considering that you were the one who apparently saw the video, I’d prefer you remain here with Iwaizumi and offer him all that you know.”

“Got it,” Jay said easily.

Oikawa tried to hide his surprise, looking at his partner to avoid making it too obvious. 

“Rook, considering how you managed to injure yourself while training, I can’t hide my concern for bringing you on a mission that involves a rescue. If you don’t mind, I want for you to stay behind as well.”

Rook frowned, shooting Loon a glare as said crow curled into himself.

“Sorry, Rook,” he mumbled as the other shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rook said, pausing when he came to a realization. “That only leaves…” he trailed off, Jay tensing once he caught on.

“With all due respect, Swan, absolutely not,” Jay said once he caught his partner’s nervous gaze. “Name one reason Loon is being forced to go instead of another crow.”

“I could give you a list, if I wanted to,” Swan began. “Like for one, he’s been on this case since day one and probably knows as much as Otter and I do. He also has some of the best stealth skills among the three of you but has a great form and an eye for other’s blind spots,” he continued. “I understand your concern, but Loon is perfectly capable of completing this mission with us, if not the most capable at this point in time.”

“No,” Jay repeated. “I didn’t want to say this, but I don’t feel comfortable with Loon being with... _ him _ .”

Oikawa blinked, raising a brow. “Excuse me?”

“Wildfire may not have been my partner, but he was a part of our team,” Jay said without hesitation. “And you managed to let him get into this mess. You expect me to trust you with my partner’s life after that? Hell no.”

Knowing it would be a low blow, Oikawa let out a chuckle shaking his head. “I think I know what this is really about, then,” he said with a nod. “While I get that you aren’t trusting of me, and let’s be honest, you and your glaring has made the feeling mutual, there seems to be a severe lack of faith in your partner, here.”

Jay’s demeanor changed immediately. “You want to run that by me again, snake? I trust Loon with everything in my body while I wouldn’t trust you with even hair on my head.” he snarled. Before he could step towards Oikawa, Loon and Swan were between the two agents, the former looking rather pale.

“How about we all just take a break,” Swan offered. “We’ll regroup later. I need to talk to Eagle anyway to get this mission green-lighted and he might have some input on this all.”

Clicking his tongue, Jay grabbed Loon by the arm and pulled him along, his partner allowing it and following closely.

“While I get that Jay can be a bit of a dick,” Rook began, eyeing his cousin with a raised brow. “Saying that he doesn’t have trust in Loon is probably a death sentence for you,” he admitted. “Loon is the only partner he’s been able to sync with well enough that he’s finally been allowed on duos again...so back off a bit if you could.”

With that, Rook turned, following the other two and leaving Oikawa with both Swan and Iwaizumi.

* * *

 

“We have to bring at least one of them,” Swan told Eagle with a deep sigh. “If we don’t, it’ll definitely reinforce their suspicions of us not trusting them.”

Eagle nodded in agreement, thumb against his lip as he thought about all he’d been told. As the one commander in charge of monitoring everything up until this point, he was rather overwhelmed by how his gut was telling him to be wary of his decision.

“Is there anyone for certain that should remain away from this mission on account of them being the rat?”

Oikawa and Swan nodded. “Jay,” they said together, Iwaizumi remaining silent with his eyes closed.

“And what is the reasoning behind that claim?”

Sitting back, Oikawa crossed his arms. “For starters, we have reason to believe that Jay might have contacted the enemy and set up the arrival of the coordinate message. We think it's too perfect that he happened to be there to receive them. Considering that Lion's room was targeted and we found out that the research room had been bugged not too long ago, the timing makes me uneasy.”

“As it should,” Eagle agreed. “Anything else that raises red flags?”

Swan cleared his throat. “Jay was one of the three crows who vouched for Wildfire to go on the mission that we mentioned to you. Since Jay had worked with Wildfire before, it’s no doubt that he came to know him relatively well. He was also said to have had a close relationship with Natsu before she disappeared,” he explained. “The biggest concern I have is that along with getting the coordinates, his explanation of the events is fairly scarce. He said he didn’t do much and failed to record the call that apparently gave him the lead despite constant reminders to record all calls no matter what.”

“Alright, so he remains here to be monitored by Lion, then. What about Rook?”

“Rook hasn’t been cleared of any suspicion, but he’s injured from a training mishap, meaning he has no choice in the matter.”

“Which is why you recommend Loon,” Eagle pieced together, eyeing the file with a grave expression. “To be perfectly honest, I’d prefer if none of these men went with you, all things considered. It seems that Loon is the only one who can at this point. Any other spies that become involved may become fodder or even get in the way unless they are informed of the possible spy. I’m assuming that you wish to keep that information under wraps?”

“As much as possible,” Swan said honestly.

Eagle shut his eyes and nodded, coming to a decision. “I will approve of this mission only if I can attend in place of Otter. This term is non-negotiable.”

Oikawa tilted his head. "Any reason?" he asked curiously, ignoring the heat that formed in the middle of his chest. It wasn’t quite anger, but he couldn’t really pinpoint why it was there all of a sudden. 

"ISwan told me that you were pretty distressed when Wildfire went missing. Your relationship must have been a lot closer than many of us realized" Eagle explained, Oikawa shifting at the statement. "Emotion cannot get in the way of our logic, you see, and as much as I trust you, I feel that you would be a better asset here rather than on the field."

“That seems rather...extreme,” Swan began, but Eagle gave him a look that warned him to stop speaking.

“There is no such thing as being too careful. We’ve already lost two crows...we don’t need to lose two more  _ and _ a snake.”

“Right,” Iwaizumi backed up. "Besides, Oikawa and I work better together than apart. We'll definitely ensure that all three of you get out without a scratch...Otter? Thoughts?" he finished. 

Rubbing his neck, Oikawa surrendered and nodded. "If Lion agrees, I won't argue. He hasn't steered me wrong before no matter what."

“It’s settled, then,” Eagle said as he stood. He tried to smile, but Oikawa could tell that it was somewhat forced.  

“We won’t let you down,” Oikawa promised, holding out a hand to Eagle. 

Eagle’s smile grew more relaxed at the declaration, his hand taking Oikawa’s and squeezing.

“I’ll hold you to that. Help us bring our crows home. All of them.”

* * *

 

Rewatching the video Wildfire sent, Oikawa knew very well what the mission would hold. They would either get Natsu back because Wildfire had made it to the facility’s drop zone, or it was a trap by the rat that was set up because they knew that the crows were onto him.

Walking into a trap was stupid, but not when they weren’t actually going to be alone. They might be desperate, but they weren’t stupid. The crows might not be able to help because of Wildfire, but that didn’t mean their own sector couldn’t.

Iwaizumi had thought ahead before Oikawa could have even started to. the more Oikawa thought about it, the more it made sense considering that Iwaizumi never offered to stay back during a mission. He would always want to be part of the action, and wouldn't have ever thought about doing so without Oikawa there with him. 

Fiddling with his earring, he continued to rewind and replay Wildfire’s video, wanting to make sure nothing was missed...or at least that is what he convinced himself. In reality, he just missed the idiot, which he would rather smother himself with his own pillow than admit aloud. It was embarrassing enough when Iwaizumi had found out, he couldn’t imagine any of the others finding out.

_ “Remember what we talked about...hopefully that’ll give you some insight about what the hell is happening. Hopefully, more than it’s given me.” _

“What we talked about?” Oikawa murmured, pausing it before it ended and sighing. There wasn’t much they talked about besides his past and his grandfather’s issues in witness.

Oikawa nearly gave himself whiplash at how quickly he pieced it together.

While the fact that a facility was after Wildfire had become somewhat obvious, it didn’t hurt to have more information to back the claim that they knew him more than they’d originally assumed. “Chibi you little genius,” he praised with a small smile. He ignored the way warmth from earlier grew in his chest, deciding that it would be best to let Iwaizumi in on what he’d remembered.

He fiddled around his jacket for his phone, dialing the number and sitting on his bed patiently.

_ “Hello?” _

“Hey Iwa-chan~” Oikawa said, the other snorting on the line.

_ “You sound in higher spirits considering how irritated you were earlier.” _

“I wasn’t irritated. I was curious. And anyone would be in higher spirits after finding another hint in Chibi-chan’s video.”

_ “Hint? What hint?” _

“Well, whoever these people are, this definitely isn’t their first time going after him, for one.”

_ “What? How’d you get that from the video?” _

“Well, I was thinking about how Wildfire talked about living with his grandfather and being attacked once and there is definitely a conn—”

The sound of something slamming into his door made him curse and jump, Iwaizumi’s voice fading as he lowered the phone. He stood with the phone still in hand until he heard someone calling him from the other side.

Then another slam.

Oikawa was sure Iwaizumi was going wild on the other line but ignored it in favor of opening the door. He was shocked to see Loon, suspended in the air with a hand around his neck by a person in all black held him there.

“O…tter!” Loon gasped out as the person turned, dropping the crow and turning to face Oikawa. It was almost instantaneous how the person moved towards him, Oikawa nearly getting his with the dagger they had in hand.

“Shit,” Oikawa hissed as he grabbed the stranger’s arm, hitting it against the wall and forcing them to drop it. He kicked it into his room before smashing the panel to it and locking the door hopefully permanently for the time being. He kneed the intruder in the gut before spinning him and tossing him to the floor down the hall. He didn’t wait to grab Loon by the wrist, dragging him away from the scene.

“What’s happening?” Oikawa demanded as Loon stumbled behind him, coughing his lungs out and gasping for air.

“Was going back to the room after training,” he rasped, “got to the room and someone was there!”

Oikawa cursed, making his way towards Loon’s room and only pausing when he saw the light was busted. He needed to get to Jay before the agent could make a getaway or...

“Otter...this isn’t a good idea,” Loon tried to reason, the markings on his neck already beginning to form. “We should call for…”

“No,” Oikawa said. “Just trust me...they’ll know we’re here,” he assured.

“How?”

“They just will,” Oikawa repeated, moving towards the door. He peeked into the room, careful not to startle whoever was in there until he spotted someone tied up on the ground. Squinting to get a better look, he was surprised to see that it was Jay bound and gagged, lips parting as he entered. “Jay?”

“He’s there?” Loon whispered. “He wasn’t supposed to be.”

“What do you me—?”

Oikawa was slamming into the carpeted floor before he could finish, wondering why he and the floor seemed to be becoming best friends lately. The pain in his head was god-awful, and he wondered if he was bleeding or not. 

“Shit,” Loon muttered as Oikawa turned, spotting the intruder standing right beside him.

“Behind…!” Oikawa tried to warn as Loon turned. Rather than panic, however, he glared.

“I told you to leave the crow out of this, newbie.”

What?

“Apologies, Four,” the intruder spoke as he followed Loon into the room. “He was being difficult so I had to reinforce the bonds.”

The doors closed behind them and Loon sighed, shaking his head.

“We’ll roll with the punches, I guess,” Loon grumbled, turning to Otter and tilting his head. “I’ll just focus on you and how you’ve been spying on us,” he decided. “Did you really think we wouldn’t notice the dingy cameras at some point?”

Oikawa’s lips parted, but he couldn’t manage to say anything. He was too busy trying to understand what was happening to do so.

“It did make it a lot easier to hide in plain sight though...so thank you for that cover. The fact that you are so whipped about Wildfire made you even less suspicious whenever I acted like him. Don’t think I didn’t see how you let your guard down.”

Oikawa would have given anything to get up and punch the cocky rat in his face, but with the intruder pointing a gun right at him, he didn’t have much choice but to lie on the carpet and listen. He turned to Jay, not being able to see much in the darkness except for his eyes, conflicted and pained. He had never seen the other emote anything other than anger or frustration, so this didn’t make him feel any confidence in the situation.

“Allow me the honor of preventing you from needing to search any longer. Wildfire should be leaving your sector if he ever catches wind of you being caught. You all send out alerts when agents go missing...don’t you? ”

Tensing, Oikawa lifted himself slightly. “Why use us as bait? That doesn't make any sense.”

Oikawa had at least one thing over Loon: the fact that Wildfire wasn’t at their sector and in fact actually missing.

“Because,” Loon said as he pushed some hair from his face. “Natsu obviously wasn’t enough. But you would have been perfect to lure him out considering how close you are.”

Jay seemed put off by this information, looking between Oikawa and his own partner. He couldn’t speak, however, considering the ties around his mouth.

“Madam has pretty amazing foresight,” Loon admitted. “As crazy as that woman is, she never gets caught with her pants around her ankles. She probably already has her plan for you and another in case that one falls through.”

Jay struggled in his chair, gaining the blond’s attention as his confidence faltered. Loon hesitated in getting closer, the two just watching each other for a moment.

“Don’t,” the intruder spoke as Loon turned.

“You keep your mouth shut,” the rat warned. He turned his attention back to Jay and loosened the ties around his mouth, holding it in one hand tightly.

“Why? Why do all that just to…?”

Jay’s voice was strained, boarding between hurt and anger.

“It’s my job, isn’t it? What good is a rat who can’t go through with what he was trained for?” he asked quietly. “Madam gave clear instructions.”

Oikawa couldn’t see his expression, but he was sure that Loon was uncomfortable. It was obvious he cared for Jay, but now that it had gotten this far, there wasn’t much he could do.

How awfully fitting for him.

“I know you, Loon,” Jay insisted. “You wouldn’t do it unless…”

“Unless what?” his partner asked with narrowed eyes. “I’ll never understand how you had so much faith in me when all I did was use you as bait.”

Jay looked like he wanted to say more, but the ties were back around his mouth before he could manage one more word.

“Enough of that,” Loon said, returning to his usual chipper tone.  He motioning for the other person to go to his drawer, nodding when a box was lifted from inside. Opening it on his bed, Oikawa watched as Loon handed one to the intruder and grabbed one for himself. “Lucky for me and you, I brought a spare. Otherwise, I might have had to use other means to knock you out,” Loon said with an unnerving amount of calm.

Oikawa and Jay shot each other a look as if both realizing how deep they were right now.

Jay never looked away from Loon, green eyes locked on the other’s own blue ones. “Stop that,” Loon muttered, lowering Jay’s collar and pressing the needle to his neck. “Not like you’ll have much of a choice, though,” he added,  injecting whatever was in the syringe into Jay’s neck.

Jay tensed up immediately, Loon pulling the needle out and disposing of it immediately. Jay’s eyes began to flutter closed before his head rolled forward and hung lifelessly.

The intruder held him down, injecting the needle in rather roughly as Oikawa felt a burning sensation move down his neck and back. He first lost sensation in his arms, then in his legs and feet. His cheek rested against the rough floor as his vision began to fade.

“By the way,” Loon’s voice echoed, the blond leaning down and staring at the spy with a cold look. “Your cameras were...fixed.  No one’s coming for you. Have a good rest...I’m sure you’ll need it.”

  
  



	5. If I Can't Have You—

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You say that, but I don’t think he meant for you to be here,” Oikawa murmured.
> 
> “He could have been acting again. You can’t trust people like that. Especially not someone who comes from a facility like this one.”
> 
> Keeping his eyes on the crow, Oikawa shook his head in disagreement. “No matter how well someone is trained to lie...no one is that good of a actor, Jay.

“Oi.  _ Oi _ .”

Oikawa could hear the voice on the edge of his mind, wondering for a moment whether it was actually there or if he was imagining it. When he heard the voice curse under its breath, he forced his eyes open and let out a small hiss at the way his head ached. 

“Good. You’re not dead.”

When his vision managed to clear and settle in the direction of the voice, Oikawa let out a weak grin, sure his irritation showed through it. “Could say the same for you,” he muttered, coughing and shutting his eyes. “Where are we?”

“Some prison cell it looks like.”

Oikawa forced himself into a sitting position and ignored the pins and needles sensation that spread through his body. The movement didn't help his head either, but at least he wasn't pressed against the dirty floor anymore.   “How long you been up?”

“A while,” Jay said, keeping his answers short as usual. Oikawa had to admit that even with all that had happened, he was keeping his composure a lot better than he’d thought. Oikawa figured he'd continued to ask questions until the other either got annoyed or contributed as well. 

“How long have I been out?”

With a deep breath, Jay rolled his neck. “A day or two…probably. You were in and out for the last few hours, waking up and acting fine before passing out again. Seems like Loon injected you with too much of whatever that was,” the crow said, Oikawa nodding.  After a few seconds, Jay cleared his throat and side-eyed the fellow spy. “You all thought I was the traitor, didn’t you?”

Oikawa nodded easily, too tired to really lie. He didn’t have a reason to lie to Jay, anyway. 

“Funny. Loon had me wondering about you.”

“Me?” Oikawa murmured, straightening slightly. “What about me?”

Jay shifted so he was facing Oikawa, back against his wall. Even now, they were separated by where they were chained, most likely so they couldn’t manage to free each other. 

“Loon mentioned often how you kept your distance from me. Said something about how since I was a good judge of character, it might have scared you off. That made me think that maybe you had something to hide,” the crow admitted. “That, and whenever you two went on walks, he said it felt like you knew more than you let on.”

Chuckling, Oikawa rolled his stiff neck. “He played us both. These people trained him well.”

“Yeah,” Jay finished quietly. “I should have noticed, really. I just didn’t want to believe that he would ever do something like this. The first time he mentioned a traitor, I thought that maybe it could be you since he said everything he told me was from you. Obvious cover up.”

“Just as obvious as him trying to frame you, and all three of us big dogs missed that,” Oikawa assured. “We were all too focused on Wildfire and Natsu that we forgot basic rules. Thankfully, Wildfire was kind enough to remind me of them before he disappeared.”

“About that...you kept that from us too. Why?”

“Mainly because we wanted the rat to tell these people about it and have them scrambling. That obviously didn’t work since the research room was bugged into oblivion. My partner wasn’t too happy about it in the slightest.”

Jay let out a small breath of disbelief. “Good reason. Bad execution.”

“Yeah, well, there weren’t many options we had when we weren’t sure which one of you it was, now was there?” 

“Fair enough.”

A pause. 

“Losing the first partner you synced up with must suck, huh?”

“How do you…” Jay stopped. “My file, I’m guessing?”

“Rook,” Oikawa said. “He, uh, happens to be my cousin.”

Jay blinked. “No wonder I didn’t like him at first either. You two are more similar than you think when it comes to not trusting people.”

Oikawa shot him an apologetic look. “We were just covering our bases...once again, we had no idea who the rat was.”

“Yeah. I get that. Doesn’t make it any less weird.”

With the silence returning, Oikawa shifted so he could test the chain around his feet. It took a bit of effort, but when he got his legs to move, they were almost forced back into place instantly. As he continued to repeat the action more so to wake up his groggy limbs, he eyed Jay. “Tell me something, won’t you?”

“Shoot.”

“Was Loon the one who found the bounty for Wildfire way back when?” 

Jay rested his head against the wall. “You probably figured since you asked, but yes. Now that I think about it, I feel like a lot of Loon’s actions weren’t as coincidental as he made them out to be. Rook won’t be too happy to hear that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rook was only taken off this mission because Loon forced him to save him in the simulation. Rook fell on his leg and nearly broke it. He’s lucky he got away with just an ankle sprain.”

Oikawa frowned, understanding his cousin’s frustration well. If he had been injured and couldn’t help Iwaizumi, he’d probably feel like crap for a while. It would no doubt be a sensitive topic for the crow for a while after this, Oikawa taking a deep breath. 

“...You angry?”

“Obviously,” Jay said quietly. “Wouldn’t you be if you found out your partner was a traitor?”

The words lacked bite, and Oikawa couldn’t help but lean forward to try and get a better view on the shadowy figure. “I would, but there would always be a small bit of hope, now wouldn’t there?”

“That’s the kind of thinking that would get you killed.”

“You say that, but I don’t think he meant for you to be here,” Oikawa murmured. 

“He could have been acting again. You can’t trust people like that. Especially not someone who comes from a facility like this one.”

Keeping his eyes on the crow, Oikawa shook his head in disagreement. “No matter how well someone is trained to lie..no one is that good of a actor, Jay.”

Jay parted his lips to speak until the sound of something slamming caught their attention. 

Oikawa straightened when the sound of footsteps reached became audible, echoing around them. Several people appeared in front of them, all masked and covered from head to toe.  If he had the nerve, Oikawa might have just made a joke. Instead, he watched carefully, not entirely sure for  _ what _ , but knowing that it might come in handy. 

The cell door was unlocked as the people entered, grabbing Oikawa by both his arms and unchaining his legs only to chain his wrists. They did the same for Jay, Oikawa spotting some blood on the other’s head and feeling his eyes go wide.

He’d mentioned how Loon had visited, but what he must have left out was that he hadn’t been alone.  Jay avoided his gaze, following the people with his chin up and a look that could only describe as utter calm. 

Oikawa wondered just what they had spoken about while he was out. 

“Walk.”

The order was following by something pressing into Oikawa’s back, it no doubt a weapon of some kind. The more it jammed into his back, the more Oikawa assumed it was a baton by the shaping of it. 

“Kinda hard to walk when my legs are numbed out.”

“Figure it out.”

“Why, can’t manage it on your own big b—”

The weapon slamming into his back made him fall to his knees with a curse, the person clicking their tongue. 

“Avoid hitting the prisoners, Three.”

“But…”

“Or should I tell Madam about your lack of control?” the other threatened, eyes narrowing as Three quieted down immediately. 

Oikawa had heard as numbers being assigned as code names before, but it was seen as too dehumanizing to his sector. Everyone either picked their name or asked someone else to give them one, though he wasn’t sure if it was the same for the crows or not. It surely wasn’t for these people.

From the corner of his eye, Oikawa was able to confirm that it was a baton, his worries easing just barely. With a baton, there was no risk of them getting injured should they run away. His cuffs were tugged, forcing him back into a standing position, the one who scolded Three moving up to his ear.

“I wouldn’t mouth off if I were you,” he muttered. “Not unless you want your little crow to have his wings ripped off.”

Oikawa wasn’t sure if the man was talking about Jay or Wildfire, but either way, he kept his lips pressed tightly together to avoid risking either option.

He’d get them both out, but he was sure that Iwaizumi and the others were already on it. 

That was at least something in their favor.

* * *

 

As they walked, Oikawa’s mind had wandered to where they could possibly be going. 

It wasn’t as if this place looked like a facility, at least none that Oikawa had ever been to. It was a lot darker: too extravagant to be practical. That made it even more anxiety-inducing if he were honest. The amount of time and effort it must have taken to put the place together meant whoever was in charge obviously knew what they were doing. What had they done to stay afloat as well as they had?

Robbing? Killing for money? Both? 

“Oi,” Jay muttered from beside him, grunting when one of the men shoved him forward as a warning for talking. Oikawa looked over at Jay who offered a small nod. 

Right, Oikawa thought. They both needed to be as clear headed as possible to avoid making mistakes or missing something. 

With a deep breath, he closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down. What would Iwaizumi have said had he been here? Most likely something about him being a dumbass and panicking before the games even started, probably. 

Opening his eyes slowly, Oikawa forced himself to concentrate. Where were the doors? How many guards were there? How well could he move his limbs now? Was there a sliver of hope that they could escape? 

“You do not speak unless spoken to and you do not look her in the eyes,” Three spoke, the others nodding once. Oikawa wasn’t sure if the warning was meant for him and Jay or everyone. 

As they entered the room after Three opened the door, a woman sat at her desk. Unlike the hallway, her room white from the walls to the bedding. 

This was even more unnerving than the hallways.

“Otter and the straggler,” the woman said with a smile. “Nice to formally meet you. You may call me Madam.”

The voice is what originally had him curious, but seeing her was enough to jog his memory. “You’re…”

Her eyes flickered. “Oh...have I been recognized?” Madam said as her smile grew wider. She stood, walking towards him. She leaned forward, eyes tracing over him carefully. He knew it was far from friendly, no matter what tone or expression she used to try and hide her distaste.“So that must mean you did get my video. Good to know, I was beginning to wonder whether Wildfire had received it considering how long he was taking.”

“You won’t ever have him,” Oikawa said as he felt something press against the back of his head. 

“You don’t speak unless she tells you to, prisoner.”

“Don’t—” Jay threatened until he was pulled back into place by the cuffs on his wrists. 

The woman raised her hand, not seeming at all shocked by the brashness of her underlings. “Let’s not shed any blood just yet, One. I’ve made promises about that for the moment.  We need to make right with our words, do we not?”

‘One’ pulled the baton away immediately, bowing his head. “Apologies, Madam.”

Ignoring him, the woman turned to another agent and smiled kindly. “Have the others been notified about the change of plans?” 

“Yes, Madam. The agents have reported no activity at the house so far.” 

“And what about those who will be coming along with us?”

“They are prepared to depart at your discretion.”

Madam turned to eye Oikawa with a nod. When he glared, she chuckled. “Good. Get the girl and keep her with these two. Make sure they don’t ruin this one as well. I hate needing to find ways around their meddling.”

Without another word, Oikawa was being pulled from the room with Jay. The crow looked like he was getting antsy, wanting nothing more than to just kick and punch his way out, but they both knew they wouldn’t get far if they tried that here. They would need to wait and see where they were going and hope that there was a way out.

The last thing Oikawa saw before the door was closed by one of the spies was the woman with half-lidded eyes, lips still curled into a twisted smile. 

“You got a plan?”

Oikawa couldn’t see Jay’s face considering the bag on his head, but he could definitely tell that they were in the back of what seemed to be a truck. A moving truck, most likely, considering how even from within the bag Oikawa could only make out small bits of light at certain angles.

“Besides not dying? No. You?” 

“Aren’t you like, the pro?” Jay asked with a tone of surprise. It was almost like he genuinely believed it, and Oikawa couldn’t help but tilt his head at the way the other was giving him whiplash. 

“Hearing you say that after thinking I was a traitor is...actually kind of sweet.”

“I only thought that because Loon—”

The truck lurched roughly, Oikawa grunting as someone came crashing into him. By how light the person was, he was willing to bet on everything it definitely wasn’t Jay, leaving only one other person. 

“At least buy me dinner first, Natsu.”

The girl let out a noise, a moment later kicking her leg out to hit Oikawa in the shin. He flinched and whined at the action. Another kick from the other direction informed him that Jay hadn’t found his joke funny either. 

“Jesus. Tough crowd.”

“This isn’t the time to be joking!” Natsu insisted, saying something under her breath before shifting away even farther. “Of all the people I had to be stuck here with, it had to be you,” she muttered. 

Oikawa chuckled. “Just trying to lighten the mood a bit.”

“By never shutting up? Definitely a mood lightener,” Natsu said with a sigh. "Can't you be serious? This entire time you've been cracking jokes and I...it's confusing."

“You know, even if you didn’t have that bright hair color of yours, I’d be able to tell you and Wildfire were related just by how you treat me,” Oikawa said with a pout. “Though in his defense, he at least warmed up to me some while he was with us.”

Natsu sucked in a breath. “My brother...was he worried?” she said quietly, tone losing all frustration. It sounded a lot more her age, reminding Oikawa that this was just a child. Joking around probably wasn’t the best way to keep her calm. 

“You should know the answer to that stupid question,” Jay spoke up, though it lacked the heaviness of his usual words. “You were missing, and now we’ve found you and seem to have lost him. So...I guess the tables have somewhat turned.”

“But he’s okay, right?”

“As far as we know. I would say more, but I have no way of knowing whether they bugged this truck or not.”

“They didn’t,” Natsu said. “They didn’t have the time to considering how much their plans have changed because of him not coming when they thought he would.”

“What do you mean?” Jay began. “What was their original plan?” 

Natsu let out a deep breath. “Before I was taken, their plan was to get Wildfire to join them like they’d wanted when we were kids. Once I was taken, they switched it up slightly: me for him, ” she said with a grumble. “But when they didn’t work, they decided to go with the forceful technique from what I could hear.”

“But what use would we have? The more people involved, the messier the plan gets, right?” Jay asked, and Natsu hummed in agreement. 

“Honestly, at this point, your guess is as good as mine. I think we just all need to try and brainstorm before she gets to the point of bloodshed.”

“You think they’d kill us?” Oikawa said with a raised brow, mind wandering back to the woman’s words from what felt like hours ago. 

“Considering that demon of a woman their following, I don’t think it’s impossible. She hasn't exactly been the kindest even to her own men since I've been captured.”

Oikawa kept a mental note of that, Loon having mentioned that she was somewhat crazy. It hadn't been a vibe Oikawa had gotten, but she had been unnerving to be around. 

“If anything, you two try to stay as stealthy as possible,” Oikawa decided. “I think I might have the beginnings of a plan, but I need to see where we are going before I know for sure.”

“Oh, that?” Natsu asked as if surprised at how simple the unknown piece was. “That’s easy. They made it the only place that my brother and I could get to by heart.”

"Which is?" 

"Where we both grew up with our grandfather."

Squinting from beneath the mask, Oikawa straightened and nodded. “Right. Wildfire had talked about that before. That’s probably where he was thinking of going as well, then.”

Jay cleared his throat. “How would they have known whether Wildfire was there if we’re traveling there now? What if he showed up and then left?”

“They’ve had people stationed there since my grandfather died, apparently,” Natsu said quietly. “They were going to recruit us, but the crows go to my brother first.”

“Us? As in you as well?”

A shaky laugh. 

“Wasted potential is her  _ adorable _ nickname for me. Said I should have been training for years at this point but it never interested me before. My brother always had that drive and I just wanted to be normal.”

Oikawa felt another lurch from the truck and grunted when his back hit the wall roughly. 

“Yeah, he told me the same thing,” Oikawa muttered once he regained his breath. “But at least we have something to our advantage,” he said with a tone of reassurance. 

“What’s that?”

“Your brother is as stubborn as they come. I’m sure he wouldn’t come to meet them without something up his sleeves.”

* * *

 

At some point during the trip, Oikawa figured the others had drifted off without meaning to. Even Oikawa had nearly fallen asleep several times but took to fiddling with the restraints around his wrists as a time passer. He had been shocked exactly 29 times, and yet still continued to mess with them. It was only after shifting for the billionth time that he came to the realization that while he couldn’t break these cuffs, he didn’t need to keep them behind his back. 

Wiggling into a seated position, he worked his towards his bottom, getting them to just beneath his legs. It took a lot more effort than he would ever admit, but eventually, his arms were able to loop around his legs and rest against his lap rather than his back. With this, he removed his bag from his head. His eyes fluttered before adjusting to the point that he could see Natsu slouched against Jay. Jay’s head was bouncing with each truck movement, and Oikawa knew that Loon had been right about one thing, at least. 

Jay and Natsu were close enough to be siblings in their own respect, considering how calm they were around each other.

He’d have to tell Wildfire that once they got back to the sector, smirking at the thought of how he’d take the news. 

Probably say something along the lines of how he had to protect her from the fellow crow or prove he could intimidate as older brothers should. 

Oikawa’s smirk fell at the small doubt that crept into his thoughts, the unknown somewhat eerie. He had wanted interesting, and fuck if life hadn’t delivered what he’d asked. It was a lot more than he had ever done, that was for sure, and with every twist and turn, he found himself wondering if he’d ever get out of this at all.  He was still human, despite all popular theories that he was an alien. He still felt fear and helplessness, especially when he was in a situation such as the one he was in now. He couldn’t let it get to him, though. He had two other people with him right now and needed to get them all out. 

As the car hit a particularly large bump, the two beside him woke in an instant. 

He pushed his thoughts away and chuckled at their flopping. 

“Just a bump in the road,” Oikawa assured with an unreadable expression. “We'll get past them all soon.”

* * *

 

Soon came faster than Oikawa had expected. 

So fast, that Oikawa nearly struggled to get his bag back over his head and his arms behind his back before the door to the truck was forced open. Out of habit, he squinted, forgetting momentarily that what little light he’d see wouldn’t be enough to do much anyway. The small holes he made, however, helped much more than he could have ever imagined. 

The sound of shuffling reached his ears, his own feet contributing to the sound once he was forced up and out of the truck. His eyes moved to the small hole he had made, giving him a picture of what he was hearing. Besides the agents she had brought with her, he could hear side conversations going on. Most were a bit farther off, no doubt from the agents she’s apparently had here already.

“Madam, what should we do with them?”

Oikawa waited, not liking how long she was taking to decide what to do with them. He could feel a bit of sweat pooling at his brow. 

“Take that crap off their head,” her voice finally rang out, a severe lack of amusement in her tone. “They aren’t animals. And I’m sure the little one told them where we are anyway,” she continued, narrowing her eyes at Natsu. Oikawa felt a small surge of pride when Natsu didn’t look away, offering a bitter smile in return. 

Once he realized he could see, he looked at everything and everyone trying to evaluate their situation. 

At least ten visible agents.

Madam.

Natsu and Jay.

Only half of them seemed to have weapons at the moment, Madam no doubt coming prepared as well.

“Welcome to your new home away from home,” she said with a wave of her hand. 

The house was somewhat small, but definitely what Oikawa had imagined whenever Wildfire had talked about his grandfather. The house was almost cabin like overseeing the water. The area was so secluded that Oikawa found himself apologetic towards the missing crow. No one had believed him when he said he felt the attack was planned, but why else would a random gang be out in the middle of nowhere? 

‘He did mention not growing up in a good area...maybe back then there were more people here…’ Oikawa mused. Any attack was a sign that his grandfather’s protection plan wasn’t working well. There was a high chance he warned the crows beforehand and removed anyone even close to this place, too. 

“This is where all the fun will begin,” Madam said with a grin. “We’ve prepared for you well and I do hope you all have as much fun as I will.” 

She took in a deep breath, demeanor changing. “I’ll make sure that this place is torn to pieces after Wildfire arrives. What remains of Old Ukai will be destroyed for how he rejected us all those years ago.”

“Madam…”

For the first time since Oikawa had met her face to face, the woman swung her arm back, smashing the man in the face and sending him barreling into another agent. “You do not interrupt me,” she said with a deathly calm expression.

There it was: the cruel woman he was sure she had to be ever since seeing her in the video. No sane person played mind games like the ones she did.

The agents next to her all backed away somewhat. She turned as if she hadn’t nearly knocked one of her own men out, staring at the house again.  “Where was I? Oh, that demon of a man,” she said with a shake of her head. “How he’d turn in his grave if he knew just how close to his beloved grandchildren I am.”

It made sense that the woman was after Wildfire now, Oikawa mused. She didn’t only want him to do her dirty work, but she wanted revenge on his grandfather for some reason. It was probably how she knew he was with the crows and able to infiltrate that way.

“You tried to kill him for selfish reasons and now you’re acting like you were the one wronged?”

Madam’s eyes shifted to Natsu, the teen looking at the woman with disbelief. The older woman turned so she was facing the girl, willing her to say more.

“My grandfather rejected you because you were a threat on his family and you know that. Playing the victim won’t work with me.”

“Natsu…” Jay warned, not liking how silent the Madam was being. When it came to agents, ex or otherwise, it was always a dangerous silence. 

Natsu shook her head at the crow. “She can’t honestly think that she was innocent. My grandfather made sure to protect us from people like you because of the fact that your minds were not in the right place. You wanted to turn us into weapons and tried to get him to give us up. Even if he had, we would have run,” she said with her nose pointed in the air. “We would have  _ never  _ accepted you even if the crows hadn’t found us first because we always fought against evil people who used gangs and blood money like you.”

The woman's expression was the darkest Oikawa had ever seen after Natsu’s speech, the cockiness of her smiles gone.

“You speak on pure emotion and no fact, little girl. I’d suggest you quiet down.”

“I heard some of the agents talking about it while I was in my holding cell. Are you calling your own men liars?” Natsu challenged, not looking like she would stop anytime soon. “They often talked about how your husband and my grandfather were partners until you came along and got him into dirty money. That’s why you created your own unofficial facility...no one would have you after he died.”

Madam remained silent, the agents looking around awkwardly as if unsure of what to do. They moved from one foot to the other, as if trying their best to avoid Madam’s gaze in case they were found guilty.  Oikawa couldn’t help but wonder why Swan and the others hadn’t found anything on her despite the facial scans from the video they had done. Even if she wasn’t part of their sector, the facility overall would have had  _ something _ on her. Considering the lack of information...

“Loon got rid of your info...didn’t he?” 

The woman rolled her neck and exhaled deeply. “Your mind seems to be in the right place, but no. My husband was gracious enough to do so before he passed on,” she revealed. “I see now why you were on Four’s watchlist...you’re irritatingly quick to come to conclusions,” she said turning to gaze at the male. While Oikawa wasn’t sure who most of the other numbers were, Four he knew simply because of how fidgety he behaved. He actually looked like he was itching to use his weapon, a small quirk of Loon’s that he’d mentioned once or twice. 

It was probably the only honest thing that Loon had ever told Oikawa. 

Brushing her clothing down to rid of wrinkles, Madam regained as much composure as she could.  “What a shame. With a mouth like that, I have no doubt that you have strength in you,” she said with her eyes on Natsu. “If you had actually been trained, perhaps I wouldn’t have needed Wildfire after all.” 

Natsu’s eyes went wide at the statement, confidence faltering as the woman moved closer to her. Once she was close enough, she took Natsu’s chin in one hand while ignoring Jay’s noise of protest. “Such a lucky little girl. Had Wildfire not made sure I wouldn’t harm you, I would have had so much fun fixing that mouth of yours right now.”

“I think we both know you couldn’t fix anything even if you tried considering how you destroyed your husbands fut—”

The crack that echoed around them was horrifying in itself, but seeing Natsu struggling to lift herself considering the cuffs was a lot scarier. 

Jay headbutted the agent holding him, moving towards Natsu in an attempt to shield her. He was grabbed by the cuffs and thrown back without getting even close. Madam’s men were on him in seconds, kicking and beating him down to avoid another attempt like that. Madam just watched this time, Oikawa feeling his blood run cold. He knew she had felt some kind of contempt for Jay since he wasn’t part of her plan, but now it made more sense. 

He didn’t matter here, at least not as much as him or Natsu. He wasn’t the bait she needed.

Natsu whimpered as she watched Jay being stomped out, brown eyes flickering to Oikawa in a pleading manner. She was bleeding from her cheek and probably had a concussion, but still begging for him to do something. 

Oikawa was out of options, though, cuffed and being held in place. Even when he attempted to move an inch closer, he was pulled back even farther than he started. 

Madam had gotten her hands dirty, and now anything after this would simply fate taking its course.  

“You’ll kill him,” Oikawa said, attempting to keep himself as calm as he could. “Do you really want that blood on your hands?”

Madam turned to him, tilting her head and chuckling softly. “Wouldn’t be the first little crow’s neck I’ve snapped beneath my heel,” she assured, Oikawa swallowing hard. 

Where the  _ hell _ were Iwaizumi and the others? 

“And if Wildfire doesn’t cooperate with me, I can assure you that it won’t be the last.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. —Then No One Can!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well would you look at that,” Madam said once Oikawa turned to stare at her from the ground, pale as a sheet of paper. “Things really did become a lot more _fun._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor BLOOD TW in this chappy.

Miracles were a concept that Oikawa could never get behind. They were meant for people who were stuck in a situation they couldn’t get out of most likely due to their own carelessness. It was lazy wishing and Oikawa was never known to do anything lazily. Though as he watched Natsu cry and Jay being kicked into the ground, he actually found himself hoping someone found them right now. He realized miracles aren’t that bad because sometimes situations are actually out of someone’s hands and it was terrifying.

It was why the sound of a gun echoing around him caught him so off guard, especially since Jay hadn’t been the one who had gotten injured: the two agents beating him had.

Moving away from Jay, they moved towards Madam, her eyes wide as she looked around.

“Who just—!” she hissed, face red with rage. Madam was surrounded by other agents at the very sound of a gun going off, Jay lying alone without any agents covering him.

The agent in charge of Oikawa tightened his grip on his arms, another picking Natsu up by her hair and keeping her in place.

The hand that raised in the air caught everyone’s attention easily. By his posture, Oikawa had a feeling he knew who it was.

“You just injured your own! What is this nonsense?!”

The agent rolled his shoulders nonchalantly. “You said you’d leave the crow to me. I feel rather insulted that you would forget that promise considering how you always talk about keeping one’s word.”

Oikawa could honestly say he was more confused than ever at the moment.

“If I had left him to you, you would have spared him. It seems that you must actually care for him considering the lengths you’ve gone through, hm?” Madam asked with a sharp smile. “Should I remind you that you’re the reason he’s here in the first place?”

Loon moved closer, Oikawa assuming he had come out of the house due to the commotion.  “I know he is,” he agreed, taking his spot right in front of Jay as a means of blocking him. The crow was coughing, watching Loon through bleary vision. “And whether I care or not is not the focus here. The focus is that you went back on your word. Why should I keep my word when you don’t keep your own?”

“Because you belong to me,” She snapped, lips pressed together in a thin line. “ You _all_ belong to me meaning your lives, your blood, and your decisions are all my own without question.”

Loon tilted his head. “So what are you going to do to me? Kill me? Shoot me down?” he asked without much fear. “That would be spilling _your_ blood, wouldn’t it?”

“Your blood is no blood of mine. And I’ll have you wishing that I was gracious enough to end your life that quickly,” Madam said as her gaze flickered back to Natsu. Her expression changed and Oikawa’s heart dropped as her lips turned upward into a smile.  “Actually, if we are all going back on words, then I supposed that the girl can now join in on the...”

“You can’t,” Oikawa interrupted before she could finish. “Wildfire wouldn’t join someone that killed his sister.”

She chuckled. “He would if I promised him revenge against the traitor who did it,” Madam assured.

“You think I’d kill her for you?” Loon asked dryly. “You’re even more delusional than I thought.”

Madam shook her head, placing a hand on one of the agent’s shoulders. He tensed immediately, raising his gun. “Oh no. You’re a lost cause...however, if Wildfire just _thinks_ you killed her…”

The sound of beeping caught Oikawa’s attention despite the tension in the air. He’d heard it once before when they were in the truck but figured it had been one of the agents from the driver’s seat or something.  His eyes flickered to the trees that lined the road, but as soon as he did, the beeping changed directions. Whenever he moved his head in one direction, the beeping followed. He eyed the agents, none of them noticing it like he did. Not even Natsu or Loon reacted, too focused on the situation at hand. It was only when Oikawa used his shoulder to rub his ear did he realize where it was coming from.

His stupid little stud earring.

“Kill me instead.”

Madam turned, raising a brow. “Nice try. As bait, you might have been helpful, though I doubt your death would have the same influence over Wildfire as his dear little sister’s own.”

“But then you’d lose your leverage over him. Killing her would be too easy…” Oikawa bargained. He could feel the other’s eyes on him, ignoring them for the time being. “If you killed her, you would have absolutely no way to win Wildfire over.”

The agents looked around at each other, taking in the words. Oikawa used that to his advantage.

“If you killed me instead, it’s more like a warning to everyone else. Natsu...she can be used to keep Wildfire with you. He wouldn’t go against you if you kept his sister as a bargaining chip, now would he?”

“Otter,” Loon started, tone low. “What the hell are you doing?”

Madam’s interest was piqued despite Oikawa pulling the words from his ass. “You have a valid point...are you really so willing to give yourself up for such wasted potential?”

“Otter, don’t…” Natsu whispered, only cutting off when her hair was yanked back as an order of silence.

The beeping in his ear got faster.

“Yes,” Oikawa replied without hesitation. “She’s young...who knows? Maybe you could even take her and turn her into what you wanted her to be. A spy that would definitely be able to surpass Wildfire under you.”

The compliments tasted awful on his tongue, especially considering how he couldn’t feel more repulsed by Natsu being trained by the woman before him. He needed to draw attention away from her, though. He wouldn’t fail another mission this time around.

Madam stepped out of her circle of men, raising her gun and pointing it at Oikawa’s head. “You’ve made a convincing argument, though I must say people usually beg for life rather than death. You must really care for your fellow agents,” she said, the gun clicking as she removed the safety. “It’s actually quite disgusting, but somewhat noble.”

“No!” Natsu shouted, the sound in his ear flatlining.

“Just know I don’t ever miss,” Madam spoke with a grin. “How fun this turned out to be.”

Oikawa let out a shaky chuckle as he stared into the barrel of the gun. “I have a feeling it’s about to get even more _fun,_ ” he said before the sound of cars caught his attention. He knew exactly who it was just by how he could hear someone yelling a moment after.

“Otter, you dumbass!”

Madam froze and looked around, backing away at the appearance of the vehicles. Her arm lowered as she watched the cars surround both her and her men, her own truck blocking much of the escape route.

Oikawa took this chance and ran toward her, tackling the woman to the ground as she let out a shout. The burning in his arm was a sign he hadn’t been fast enough, but at least he hadn’t been shot in the head. He knew the math and his while he was relatively lucky, he wasn’t sure he would have been part of that five percent.

Before Madam’s agents could do much, they were being forced to take cover due to a flood of crows and snakes.

He looked up once shadows covered him, guns in his face due to the woman below him. He was lifted and freed from the damned cuffs around his wrists, rubbing the skin in relief.

“You idiots!” Madam shouted, getting placed into cuffs by a pair of crows. “You said you had made sure they had no sense of tracking!”

Her men didn’t respond, too busy attempting to avoid capture.

Madam’s attention turned to the men in front of her, eyes narrowed. “ You,” she hissed towards Oikawa. “Still owe me your life!”

“Even in cuffs you seem to have a big head on your shoulders, you old hag,” Iwaizumi’s voice rang out, his arm moving around Oikawa’s shoulders as he pulled him close. He looked unnerved at the claim on his partner’s life. “You better get used to those cuffs, you won’t be seen without them even on your deathbed,” he promised, muttering under his breath as he pulled Oikawa away from the crazy woman. “At least not if I have anything to say about it.”

Her continuous screaming was soon blocked out by Oikawa as he eyed his partner in wonder.

Iwaizumi really was one of the best.

“What?” Iwaizumi asked. “Your eyes are creeping me out.”

Oikawa relaxed, shaking his head and chuckling as he looked away. “Making sure I wasn’t actually shot in the head and hallucinating you were here.”

Not appreciating the joke, Iwaizumi pinched the skin near his shoulder.“Please, your mind isn’t strong enough to conjure me up,” Iwaizumi said with a tired glare. “Though I always give credit where credit is due. You’re holding up with that wound pretty well,” he admitted, eyeing the red that was sliding down Oikawa’s arm. “Figures you would be the one shot.”

“Why is that?”

“Because you’re a dumbass,” Iwaizumi said easily, Oikawa not having the will to fight the statement at the moment.

Getting the wound treated was surprisingly fast, the blood apparently having made it look worse than it was. It still hurt like a bitch, Iwaizumi was holding back laughter the entire time one of their agents was cleaning it.  If it had been a laser-based weapon, his arm might have suffered a lot more damage.

“Keep off it if you can,” the woman said as she finished wrapping it. “It’s gonna sting whenever you clean it, but as long as you don’t reopen it you should be fine in a few weeks.”

“Thank you,” Oikawa said as he rolled the eyed the ripped up sleeve. Iwaizumi patted him on the back once, apparently catching the look Oikawa was giving the sleeve.

“If you say that this was one of your favorite shirts I _swear_ —”

“So the dynamic dipshits are back together again!”

Iwaizumi turned, irritated until he appeared to recognize who had said it. “Was wondering where you went off to, Grey,” he replied with a raised brow. “Thanks again for the help on such short notice.”

Grey shook his head. “You should thank Ozul and Wildfire, really. I wouldn’t have gotten the alert if not for them.”

This made Oikawa perk up in interest, eyes going back and forth between the two.

“Oh, right. Well, after you two were taken, we had to send out a warning to other sectors,” his partner admitted.

“That’s what they wanted,” Oikawa murmured. “Was your stupid earring thing not enough?” he pointed out, Iwaizumi reaching out to touch the piece of jewelry with a chuckle.

“It worked better than I thought it would, but it was far from my first thought considering how once I got to your room, your panel was smashed to bits. We thought you were locked in or something until we realized you weren’t even in the damn base anymore.”

Oikawa rubbed his neck and cringed back. “Right. I broke that...my bad.”

Iwaizumi waved a hand, backing away and crossing his arms. “Anyway, Ozul shot us a message after spotting the alert. He was over in the Arroyo sector.  He’s one of those people that Wildfire mentioned in that video he left us. Since Ozul was an off-duty crow, boom. Wildfire knew about the alert as soon as he did.”

“And then Ozul sprung into action just like old times,” Grey said as his eyes scrunched. Oikawa figured his grin was large beneath his mask. Leave it to the crows to be smiling at the scene of a bust. “Also...I heard little Loon was a rat,” he continued, eyes darkening. “Where is he? I have a few choice words for that little—”

“About that,” Oikawa said quickly, startling both his partner and the crow. “Hold off on locking him up...he might have actually bought some time for us.”

“Ha?” Iwaizumi said, leaning forward. “Did you get hit in the head or something? He literally kidnapped you and Jay and let an intruder onto the crow’s base not once, but twice. That’s just the short list of things he’s done.”

“Right. That at least deserves at least one broken everything,” Grey said calmly, Oikawa having the feeling he wasn’t joking.

“What can I say, he made sure Jay wasn’t killed,” Oikawa revealed. “That has to count for something.”

“Not when he’s the reason why Jay was here in the first place,” Grey argued. Oikawa stared him down, brown eyes somewhat pleading.

“I know a criminal when I see one, Grey. I don’t think Loon happens to be one even if he looks pretty awful right now.”

Grey and Iwaizumi both eyed each other.

“Lion?” Grey began as Iwaizumi turned to Oikawa. It didn’t take long for him to return his gaze to the crow with a shrug.

“My partner’s never steered me wrong before,” Iwaizumi offered. “Let’s keep him booked for now and talk to him once all of this is done with. Maybe he could become an asset in a way other than an agent.”

Grey crossed his arms, sighing deeply. “Fine. But he isn’t leaving my sight,” he muttered as he walked off, no doubt to look for the blond.

Iwaizumi and Oikawa leaned against the back of one of the crow’s vehicles, everything eerily silent despite the many conversations going on around them. Even Madam had gone silent, eyes downcast. It must have sunken in for her that it was over: her agents all on the ground facing downward with cuffs on their wrists.

“So what now? I have no doubt there are more of her men back wherever they took us,” Oikawa pointed out. “She had a pretty extravagant facility if I do say so myself.”

“Might have been trying to compensate. While I have no doubt she might have some gangs under her thumb, they’ll abandon ship without defending her,” Iwaizumi assured. “I have no doubt if worse comes to worst, we could convince one of these wannabes to lead us to it. What matters is without the hag, they’ll implode on themselves for sure.”

“Right.”

“Hey, Lion, mind helping us out over here?” one of the snakes called out. “We’re starting to load them into the truck but some are being difficult”

Iwaizumi shot Oikawa a look. “You think you’ll be alright with that arm?”

Oikawa waved his good hand and nodded. “Go on. I’m going to check on Natsu and Jay.”

* * *

 

“I can’t believe you did that!” Natsu said, punching Oikawa in the chest with a surprising amount of power. One would think after being under lock and key for a few months would drain someone, but here the teenager was tossing some pretty solid punches. “Idiot! I swear to go—!”

The teen was pulled away from him before she could get his face, arms wrapping around her waist as she thrashed. “Let me at him!”

“Natsu, these are the people I work with!”

The somewhat whiny tone alone was enough for Oikawa to know that Wildfire was the one holding onto her. Natsu went limp soon after, tears in her eyes as she huffed. She said nothing, having a good sense of what Wildfire might say if she did. Oikawa thanked her silently, already imagining ways to make it up to her. He’d put her through a lot more than she needed considering the fact she’d been missing for months.

“Sorry, Natsu,” Oikawa said as he placed a hand on her head gently. “I know you were scared, but I was just keeping one of the many promises I made,” he admitted with a small ruffle. “I won’t do that ever again.”

She sniffed. “You better not. I’ll kill you myself if you do.”

Wildfire’s head moved back and forth as he watched them talk, most likely never having heard his sister threaten someone before. Oikawa would be lying if he said he wasn’t flattered at the amount of care she seemed to expressed. He hadn't known her for long, but he figured that Wildfire had described her in such detail that he couldn’t help but feel like he’d known her longer.

She threw another punch once Wildfire had let her go, only to end up being held back again.

“Go back and sit by Jay. You’re on time out,” Wildfire grumbled, the teen scoffing. She did as told, muttering about how she was sitting because she wanted to and not because she had been told to. Jay was watching the entire scene with a small grin, no doubt having enjoyed seeing Natsu pummel him without holding back. He had a few bandages on his forehead, but other than that appeared as normal as one could. Oikawa was sure his ribs had taken a beating no matter how stoic the crow was trying to be.

“You good?” Oikawa asked, Jay nodding.

“You?”

Oikawa nodded. “Perfect.”

Jay looked like he wanted to say something, but held it back and just turned to Natsu who was sulking.

“I don’t know what got into her, I’m sorry,” Wildfire said with a shake of his head. “She’s probably just really stressed at the moment. I don’t really blame her.”

Oikawa didn’t speak, arms crossed as he eyed the crow while giving nothing away.

“What?” Wildfire asked. “You’re staring at me weird.”

Holding back a chuckle at how Wildfire was the second person to say something about his staring, he bit his tongue to drag this out a bit longer.

“Is this about me leaving? I left you a message…” Wildfire said in a somewhat nervous tone. “I never took you as the type of hold grudge but I can say I’m sorry if you want. I’m not above apologizing just because I’m a sp—oomph!”

Oikawa kept his arms around him, resting his chin on the masked crow’s head even when the crow went straight as a board. “Amazing how even after all that I can’t be mad at you. You’re too pitiful.”

“W...what are you...What did I say about touching me!” Wildfire whined as he shoved the other away. This only made Oikawa tighten his arms around him.

“You said yourself I was never good at listening,” Oikawa said with a smirk, Wildfire pushing air from his nose and shaking his head.

“Even now you’re the same. You’re joking around. You were almost killed, idiot,” Wildfire said as he wrapped his arms around him and squeezed gently. “But I’m glad you’re alright. When we got that alert, I thought the worst. Aren’t you supposed to be great at stealth?”

“Oh? Were you worried about me?”

Wildfire pulled away to look up at Oikawa, but the snake couldn’t make out what kind of expression he had with his damn goggles and the mask. In the crow’s defense, Oikawa should have expected the punch he received right into his gut.

Oikawa groaned, hunching over as he was reduced to his knees, coughing up a storm. Natsu shot up from her seated position, Jay following in case he needed to hold back the agent.

“Obviously I was worried!” Wildfire shouted, the nearby crows knowing better than to stop and watch. The snakes, however, snickered at their comrade’s wheezing.

“Sho...you shouldn’t hit him like that…”

Wildfire ignored her, huffing and shaking where he stood. “Did you think I wouldn’t be?” he demanded as Oikawa lifted his head to look at him. “ I _told_ you about how most people close to me aren’t around anymore. You almost became one of them and you have the nerve to ask me if I was worried?”

The snake felt lightheaded for a completely different reason after those words, cheeks heating. His lips twitched when the other brought a gloved hand to his masked lip and coughed. It was completely unnecessary, but Oikawa knew it as a nervous habit of his.

“Nevermind. Just don’t do it again and maybe I’ll consider saying sorry for hitting you,” Wildfire finished.

Once he remembered how to breathe normally, Oikawa couldn’t help but push more buttons. “So am I considered family now?”

Wildfire lurched forward, Jay and Natsu grabbing him and pulling him back with much effort. A teenager and an injured man obviously wouldn’t last against someone in full health, and so Wildfire was in front of him in an instant. He froze right before grabbing him, however, outstretched hand slowly moving towards his cut sleeve and the bandages.

“You were shot?”

“Kinda,” Oikawa said with a shrug. “Minor wound, really.”

Wildfire let out a small breath of relief. “You were shot and I just punched you...if you didn't act like nothing happened I wouldn't have hit you and I even used half my strength so you must be in even more pain right now and...”

“Hey, woah there. Look at me,” Oikawa spoke, slowly raising his hands to the other’s cheeks. When he wasn’t flipped onto his back by the crow, he continued. “I’m fine now. And I’ll be fine tomorrow, and the day after that. So will you, Natsu, and even Jay.”

“What do you mean _even_ me?” Jay called out as Natsu shushed him.

“So stop freaking out. It’s all part of the job, right?” Oikawa offered. Wildfire didn’t say a word, simply raising a hand to place it over Oikawa’s. Before the conversation could continue, the sound of someone clearing their throat made them both look up.

Wildfire jumped, moving to a standing position and standing as straight as he could. “Yes?!”

The crow waved a hand to calm Wildfire down. “I just need to talk to the victims to get their accounts of the situation on file. Should I give you some more time with your…?” she trailed off, Wildfire shaking his head.

“N..No, just...uh, you can,” Wildfire stammered. “Uh, Otter? Are you sure you three are alright to answer some questions and all that?”

Standing and puffing out his chest, he nodded. “I’m always ready to help on a case.”

A snort made him deflate, Jay holding a hand up in the air with the other covered his mouth.“My bad. Meant to hold that in.”

Wildfire cleared his throat and pointed to where a group of agents were taking care of other injured members. “I’m going to...yeah.”

Oikawa shook his head, grabbing his wrist before he could walk off. “I’m cashing in that favor from before,” he joked, Wildfire tilting his head in confusion until he remembered what Oikawa was referencing. “So promise me we'll talk later. Properly.”

Sputtering from beneath the mask, Wildfire yanked his wrist from the other and held it to his chest. “You—!” he whispered, losing all fight in a matter of seconds. “Fine! I promise," he agreed, avoiding the other's gaze. 

The two stood silently before Wildfire dropped his arms to his sides and stood straight. 

"I’m leaving now!” the crow declared, stomping off while Oikawa watched with a large smile on his lips.

“How cute.”

Oikawa looked at the crow whose smug expression was obvious since she had removed her mask.

“Adorable,” Jay said dryly as Natsu snickered.

Having forgotten they were all there, he flushed.  “Shouldn’t you be asking questions or something?”

* * *

 

As everything began to unwind, Oikawa knew he should have felt somewhat at ease. They had managed to defy the odds of this mission ending successfully, especially after Oikawa had technically become one of the innocents that had become involved. It just didn’t sit well with him, causing him to wonder if it was perhaps the fact that the area itself was creepy. Walking around the place he’d nearly been killed was a good a reason to be uncomfortable, but that wasn’t it.

As he looked around it wasn’t too hard to figure out why the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on edge.

Madam.

It was confusing because once she had been caught, she should have lost all power over them all. why the hell did it feel like even in cuffs she was in control?

“You look concerned,” Iwaizumi said with a raised brow. “I thought you would be passed out in the back seat of a vehicle by now.”

“No…” Oikawa murmured. “It’s probably just my nerves. I can’t help but keep thinking that this all felt…”

“Easy?” Iwaizumi finished.“I felt the same way.  We did have her outnumbered, but those agents hadn’t even put up much fight.  They were apprehended in minutes as if she’d called them off somehow.”

“Reminds me of the file,” Oikawa said quietly. “A mission that was too simple and almost calculated. While I know for sure she didn’t expect you all to come, she might have something on us here. The sooner we all get out, the better.”

“Makes sense. If she led Wildfire here, no doubt she planned ahead.”

Iwaizumi pressed his hand to his earpiece. “All agents leave the area as soon as possible. Make sure that both the hag and her lackeys are unarmed and have no devices hidden amongst them. The hag is riding with the crows while the lackeys will stay in the back of the truck for transport.”

Various affirmative answers back didn’t get rid of the weird fluttering at the pit of Oikawa’s stomach, his legs moving on their own. He stopped right before Madam, the crows surrounding her already forcing her towards one of their vehicles.

“Watch her,” one of the crows murmured to Oikawa. “She’s been doing fidgeting and behaving oddly for the past half hour.”

“Got it. I wouldn’t think too much about it,” Oikawa assured. “She’s good at getting in people’s heads considering all the men she had under her thumb.”

Nodding, the crows moved towards the vehicle, Oikawa reaching down and hoisting the woman to her feet.

“How kind of you to see me off,” she said with the same calm she’d had before Natsu had set her off. “You must be really proud. You saved the girl and the little crow. You even managed to keep Wildfire out of my hands. I don’t take lightly to stealing, though.”

“He’s not property to be had. Or are you still delusional to think that you have a chance of persuading him?” he asked as one of the crows opened the door for her. “Because I’m almost positive that the crows won’t ever let you catch even a glimpse of him ever again.”

She smiled wider. “I’m anticipating their punishment. Though I’m expecting the full experience, not some petty charges on attempted kidnapping or attempted murder.”

Oikawa narrowed his eyes. “Oh?”

Madam nodded and looked back at the house fondly. She stretched her neck just as the crow had warned him. “You see, as ruthless as the crows may be, no one can beat me at my own game,” she assured. “I have three very strict set of beliefs that have never failed me in all my years.”

“Do you now? Color me flattered I was able to be part of the one time they did.”

Her eyes flickered. Another stretch of the neck.

“My rules all still apply here, if I do say so myself. I never let my guard down and you seem awfully on edge despite me being cuffed,” she pointed out.

Oikawa could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, her eyes digging into him. “That’s only two.”

“Oh, three, that one is one that I’ll repeat just for you,” she said honestly. “Always have a backup plan just in case your original happens to fall through.”

He couldn’t tell if she was trying to bait him or not, scanning her over to make sure she hadn’t broken free of the cuffs of stolen a weapon. As he was searching, he felt a shove, then the hardness of the ground pressing against his wound. He hissed at the pain that shot up his arm, reaching out to apply pressure only to find it was bleeding again. It made his eyes grow glassy, his vision failing him as agents crowded around him

_“Two agents down. Shots fired.”_

_“Search the house!”_

A moment later, hands were on his cheeks,  Iwaizumi hovering over him and trying to focus his attention. The words were hard to make out over the road of his earpiece coming to life, but Oikawa eventually pieced together that he was telling him to look at him.

“W...what is happening?” Oikawa muttered, Iwaizumi unable to stop his eyes from glancing to the side.

In reality, Oikawa had wished he’d listened to his partner and just focused on him rather than following his gaze. If he had, he wouldn’t have seen the other agents applying pressure to Wildfire’s chest. He wouldn’t have watched as the agents ripped his mask and goggles off to see if he was conscious.

He wouldn’t have caught how Wildfire was staring at him in pure relief until his eyes fluttered closed and he became unsettlingly limp.

“Well would you look at that,” Madam said once Oikawa turned to stare at her from the ground, pale as a sheet of paper. “Things really did become a lot more _fun_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize *hides*


	7. They Can Take Anything From Me—

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Heard from the others you’ve been trying to avoid everyone.”
> 
> Oikawa didn’t have to turn to know who it was. “Funny. If they know that, then why are you the nth person to come here?”
> 
> “Because it just brightens my day to see you and I couldn’t last another minute without doing so,” Rook deadpanned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The biggest chapter I've written is next! If you've made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> ~HxL

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Oikawa didn’t pull his eyes away from his lap where his hands were rested. Ever since he’d been forced into Iwaizumi’s vehicle, he’d been working hard to convince himself that the blood all him was actually his own. The thought alone was enough to evoke nausea, his mind seeping back to the sight of Wildfire on the ground. What pained him the most about it was the fact that he’d looked  _ relieved _ . He hadn’t been scared at all despite practically bleeding out. 

He clenched his fists and lowered his head. 

“Did they catch him?”

Iwaizumi shot him a quick look, only answering once his eyes returned to the road. He nodded. “Yeah. They’d nearly lost him but the found him in the forest before he...you know.”

No, Oikawa didn’t know, but he had a pretty good sense considering Iwaizumi’s hesitation in saying it clearly.

“Why wasn’t the house secured? That should have been the  _ first _ thing that was done.”

Adjusting his grip on the wheel, Iwaizumi cleared his throat. “Maybe right now isn’t the best time to talk about this.”

“Right now is the only time I’ll talk about this,” Oikawa stated. “Now answer me.”

Iwaizumi was quiet for a few moments before sighing. “The house was secured earlier. It seems like after the agents were taken down no one had thought to check it again for campers.”

Oikawa wanted to say more, but he knew it’d only end up with him riling them both up. 

His mind wasn’t even focused on how Madam was now under the custody of his sector instead of the crows. He was too bitter towards them for not being able to apprehend the gunman. He knew it was unreasonable and that being angry wouldn’t change what had happened, but he couldn’t help it. He had seen Wildfire acting normally after  _ months _ of dealing with the case. 

He’d seen him happy, annoyed, shocked, and flustered not even an hour ago and now…

His vision blurred, but he refused to let any tears fall. He was far too angry for that. 

Wildfire had done what he had been reaching for. He’d gotten his sister back, he wasn’t going to be forced into Madam’s dirty work, and he had done it all while being on the frontlines just as he always wanted.

Oikawa supposed that the crow had been right in saying that he wasn’t meant for a normal life. 

“Did you hear me?” Iwaizumi questioned as he fiddled with his ear piece.  Oikawa’s own hung around his neck, crackling at random moments whenever someone reported in. He didn’t want to hear any updates on Wildfire’s condition, knowing it would only make him more pessimistic about the outcome. 

“No.”

“I said that you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it. Wildfire knew what he was doing. He’s a strong kid. He’d never let that woman have the last laugh.”

Oikawa nodded slowly. 

The car began to slow until it came to a complete stop, Iwaizumi leaning back in his seat and eyeing his partner from the corner of his eyes. He was silent for a moment, just looking over him to triple check that it was just his arm that had been injured in the chaos. “Shittykawa, it really wasn’t your fault. Our mission was to help save Natsu and we did just that. No one could have known there was someone in the house waiting.”

Oikawa wanted to scream because he  _ should _ have known. 

Madam had mentioned that people were in the house. Oikawa had just been silly enough to think that all of them had come out once she was ambushed. 

It  was his fault, even if his partner tried to convince him otherwise. 

“You can get some rest if you need. We won’t be back to the base for a few hours.”

Oikawa turned so his cheek was pressed against the seat, watching the trees go by until he managed to drift off. 

Even in his dreams, he thought of Wildfire.

* * *

 

At the sound of his bedroom doors opening for the fifth time in the last two hours, Oikawa didn't bother to look.

“Heard from the others you’ve been trying to avoid everyone.”

Oikawa didn’t have to turn to know who it was. “Funny. If they know that, then why are you the nth person to come here?”

“Because it just brightens my day to see you and I couldn’t last another minute without doing so,” Rook deadpanned, arms crossed as he tiltedh is head. Oikawa would have laughed if not for how numb he was feeling. 

Even after showering and getting rid of all the evidence, he felt his skin crawl. He was sure that if he itched anymore he would end up clawing away at the actual skin. 

All Oikawa had wanted after Wildfire had disappeared was to see orange again. 

Instead, he got was red. 

“In reality, I’m here because I was sent to make sure you didn’t do something stupid like lock yourself away for three days straight without eating. They also told me to help you clean that bullet wound.”

Oikawa shifted on his bed. “And what could you possibly say that would make me feel better? Are you going tell me it wasn’t my fault like everyone else?” 

Rook walked over, a small limp to his step as he sat down beside his cousin. “No, It was kinda your fault,” he said easily, Oikawa flinching at the words. 

“You’re awful at this.”

“Let me finish,” Rook insisted as he held out a hand. Oikawa handed him the disinfectant as well as the bandages, watching as the crow got to work.

“Even if it was somewhat on you, I could say the same for everyone on the operation. Whether it was or wasn’t someone’s fault doesn’t matter when the job is over with. Wildfire was shot. We can’t change that and we need to focus on getting all those people booked so they won’t be able to hurt him again,” he said seriously. “Or you. Or Jay. Or any other agent that is around. 

Rook took some of the cotton, dampening them with the disinfectant. 

“You weren’t there, though,” Oikawa said quietly, eyes on his lap. “He was only shot because....”

“He was protecting you. I know. I was stuck playing messenger here and had to listen to the news of my partner being shot through the fucking earpieces,” Rook reminded, pressing the cotton into Oikawa’s wound as the other hissed in pain and tensed up. “Whoops.”

Oikawa worked to breath in and out of his nose, having forgotten that Rook was technically injured. He could feel his face heat and did his best not to get dizzy at the burning sensation.

“Sorry. How are you holding up?” he rasped, Rook beginning to dab a lot gentler this time. 

“My partner is probably fighting for his life as we speak. What do you think?” Rook asked with a raised brow. “But that’s in our job description. He accepted that just like the rest of us. You need to choke it down now too.”

“You can’t say you’re okay with this.”

“I could but it’d be a lie,” Rook admitted. “But all of us, and I mean all of us have been in Wildfire’s position at one point or another. Leg injuries, amputations, blindness, brain death...you name it and we’ve either seen or heard of a crow that’s gone through it. This isn’t all sunshine and fucking daisies, no matter how upbeat and energetic people act while on base. In case you’ve forgotten, half the time, we’re bait. Whether we live or die really doesn’t matter as long as our job is done.”

Oikawa sucked in a breath, the words like cold water being splashed into his face. 

Rook tossed the cotton out, positioning the other’s arm so it was easier to wrap. “I’m not saying that what you’re feeling isn’t valid or that you should hide it,” he said quietly. “Hell, I’d prefer it if you screamed and yelled until your heart’s content if it meant you’d avoid bottling it up and acting like you’re the only one hurt by it.”

By how Rook’s tone hardened, Oikawa knew the pause in his words wasn’t planned.

“But remember that your feelings aren’t any more intense than the rest of us.  We almost lost you too, damnit.” 

He finished the rest of the dressings without a word, leaving what he’s already said to fester in the others mind. Oikawa really hadn’t considered that, if he were being honest. He had almost been killed in front of both his partner and his cousin. If Wildfire had been a second later, he might not even breathing at this point. 

“So,” Rook finally spoke once he managed to compose himself eyeing. “Take what you will from it. Go do  _ something _ to distract you from being such an ungrateful brat toward Wildfire’s decision. Got it?” 

Oikawa lowered his gaze, picking at his nails silently. 

“Is that a yes? Because if not, I don’t think I’ll be able to resist swinging at you right now. I’m not above knocking some sense into an injured person.”

Oikawa didn’t react to the empty threat, nodding his head slowly. “Yeah, I get it.”

“Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page. Now take your antibiotic. Don’t think I forgot about it,” Rook muttered as Oikawa reached over toward his night stand. He took the pills as they took a moment to gather their thoughts. basking in the silence while they were allowed the luxury. 

“You know, Wildfire and I talked a bit when he was with us at our sector,” Oikawa said with a shaky breath. If Rook could tell he was on the verge of tears, he didn’t mention it at all. 

“That guy sure can talk when he wants to,” he said instead. “What’d you talk about?” 

“His sister and how he felt about the case, mainly. Sometimes about his childhood. He mentioned once how the thought of a person you cared for getting hurt because your decisions was an awful feeling... I think I get what he meant now.”

“Yeah, he’s irritatingly omniscient like that.”

“Sounds like someone else I know,” Oikawa said, Iwaizumi coming to mind. From the Loon situation to giving him the earring...Iwaizumi definitely considered all the possible outcomes, even when Oikawa thought he had been irrational. “People like them are definitely aliens.”

Rook scrunched his nose. “I wouldn’t be surprised, honestly,” he assured. “Their minds really do work in weird ways.”

Oikawa dried his eyes as best he could, noticing how the feeling in his chest had lightened somewhat. “Considering how you were as a kid,  I never thought you would actually be able to do...this.”

“Likewise,” Rook said without missing a beat. “But apparently I’ve gotten pretty good at it if you’re willing to cry in front of me. You never cried in front of me, not even when you fell out of that tree and dislocated your shoulder,” he reminded, fingers tapping against his own arm. 

“I wasn’t talking about comforting...I was talking about being a crow.”

Surprised by the compliment, Rook looked away, raising a finger to scratch his cheek. “Oh. That. Well, recruitment was a bitch but I made it.”

“How’d you get the nickname?” Oikawa asked. “Rook...seems like an interesting choice.” 

The crow nodded in agreement, eyes softening as he remembered. “Wildfire gave it to me, shockingly. Coming up with a name was the last thing I cared about when becoming a crow. Some people labeled me the king. Old partners of mine refused to work with me because of it,” he revealed, Oikawa frowning deeply. “But then here comes this dumbass, the crow who managed to get in without being recruited and everyone seemed more focused on him. He was weird, you know?”

“He is pretty weird,” Oikawa agreed. 

“So one day I get into this argument with an asshole in our sector because he won’t stop calling me ‘his majesty’ or some crap like that, and Wildfire blurts out that the name isn’t fitting for me. After that, he wouldn’t leave me alone until I agreed that he could decide my codename. It took him a week,” Rook said with a fond chuckle. “And he decided on Rook. When asked why, he said because his grandfather had loved chess.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It was funny though because Swan later told me that the name was also a kind of crow. I looked it up and the damned thing was the same color as my eyes. Wildfire laughed like crazy, telling me I was lucky for such a fitting name.”

Oikawa couldn’t help but laugh quietly, imagining Wildfire saying that to his formerly emotionally constipated cousin. “What an amazing little crow he is,” he said with admiration. 

Rook looked at him with wide eyes, head tilting. “He must be pretty special to you for you to compliment him like that. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you compliment anyone, actually. Are you and Wildfire...you know…”

Straightening, Oikawa’s mind went blank. “Why?”

“No reason.”

“It’d be dangerously stupid if I did.”

“I’m not hearing a no.”

“Tobio…”

The crow raised his hands in surrender. “Fine, I’ll stop,”’ he promised. “But only if you both get my blessing before you start da—”

“I’m going to leave.”

His cousin’s chuckling startled him and before he knew it, he was also chuckling at the ridiculousness of the topic. “In all seriousness, he’ll be back before you know it. He always comes back.”

“Thanks,” Oikawa murmured. 

Rook shrugged. “Just make sure you don’t distract my partner once you get together,” he said, unable to stop at least one more tease from slipping.

“Now go get some rest and then think about how you’re going to apologize to Swan and everyone else. You worried them all sick.”

* * *

 

The look on Iwaizumi and Swan’s faces when they saw Oikawa at the door was priceless. He knew that no one was expecting him to make an appearance so soon. After taking some time to consider Rook’s words, he realized that he needed to apologize to everyone, especially his partner. He would have done  _ just  _ that, had he not walked into Swan’s room to see him  sitting on his Iwaizumi’s lap with his eyes closed. His partner was running his hands through his hair soothingly while gazing off into space. 

“I knew it.”

Both froze at Oikawa’s voice, but neither moved until Oikawa spoke again, snapping them out of their shock. 

“I  _ totally _ knew it.”

He hadn’t really, but it was fun to watch as the two turned a deep shade of red. 

“Thank you for knocking,” Swan mumbled. “And we weren’t expecting you for at least another few hours to a day.”

“Which is why you sent my baby cousin to insult me?” Oikawa said without losing his smirk, knowing it irritated his partner to no end. 

“I told him to talk to you, not insult you,” Swan said with a frown. 

Oikawa waved a hand to show it wasn’t a big deal, moving to the desk chair to sit. “It wasn’t that bad. I needed the kick in the ass,” he admitted. “But you guys seem to have helped him mature a lot from what I can tell. So thank you for that.” 

Swan shifted, moving to get off Iwaizumi’s lap until said male wrapped his arms tighter around his waist. “Nuh uh. Just cause my partner doesn’t know how to knock doesn’t mean we need to go back to hiding. Besides, he knows already so this won’t hurt.”

“That doesn’t mean we should lose professionalism,” Swan said.

“We’re in a casual setting, he won’t die.”

Oikawa watched as the couple bickered, resting his cheek against his hand and wondering how it had gone on so long under his nose. He did give himself a mental high five, however, as he had always known his partner would end up with a crow one way or another. 

Watching them interact was the surprisingly familiar, the only difference being the position they were in. Oikawa had always imagined that things changed when people got together, wondering where that assumption had come from. He had never seen a real couple within the facility, between sectors or otherwise, and seeing his partner in a relationship made Oikawa wonder how many other couples were sneaking around.

It made him wonder how a relationship would actually be like. Would he be happy with dating another spy? What about if whoever he ended up with did get injured...would he have to pretend he didn’t care?

“Shittykawa, this doesn’t bother you, does it?” Iwaizumi asked, pulling him from his thoughts. 

“No, not at all,” Oikawa promised. “I’m happy for you two so don’t fret too much. I’m not going to anyone to spill it or anything.”

“See?”

Swan flicked Iwaizumi in the forehead, earning a grunt in response. Huffing, the crow returned his attention to Oikawa. “Anyway...how is your arm? Has it been hurting?”

Oikawa shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I actually came here mainly to say sorry,” he explained. “I forgot to take into account that you guys were worried about me too and brushed it off because of how I was worried about Wildfire. So...sorry for that. It was wrong of me.”

When Oikawa looked back up, Iwaizumi was staring at him as if he had lost his mind. 

“What?”

“You apologizing is weird. I mean, I appreciate it, but you don’t have to.”

“Yeah, well, I made you worry a lot. Just know it wasn’t intentional. I was in my own mind for a lot of the time.”

When a pillow hit him in the face, Oikawa tensed and caught it so it wouldn’t hit the floor.

“We know you weren’t trying to make things difficult. You’ve always been a pretty...introverted person when you’re serious about something. Nearly getting killed also puts a good amount of shock on the system,” Iwaizumi said with a frown. “But I’ll accept your apology if you accept mine. As your partner, it was my job to cover your ass and Wildfire just happened to beat me to it.”

“Rook helped me realize that thinking in what if’s isn’t productive. You were right when you said none of us could have known, so let’s leave it at that.”

Seeming to agree, Swan ruffled Iwaizumi’s hair gently. “Now that you two have that settled, It’s my turn to thank you both.”

“For?” Iwaizumi asked, one of his eyes closing at the affectionate gesture.

“For taking on this mission and following through until the end. Wildfire and two others needed surgeries for their injuries. I don’t know what the number would have been had we not had the power of numbers.”

At the mention of surgery, Oikawa paled. “That actually reminds me of something,” he spoke, rubbing his arm. “Rook mentioned how all crows have been in Wildfire’s position at some point...the injury part. Blindness, amputations...is that all true?”

Swan nodded, a sad smile forming on his lips. “Unfortunately. There are just some instances where those situations are rather unavoidable. I should have warned you, but I hadn’t known a missing person’s case would escalate to this point.”

“I don’t blame you, I’m just...how do you do it? I feel like I’m torn between wanting to be as positive as I can but unable to shake how terrified I am of what could happen. Everyone here seems the same. Chatting, talking, eating, laughing…”

“We’ve become rather desensitized to things like this. Not to say that we don’t care at all!” Swan defended, fingers playing with the ends of Iwaizumi’s hair out of nervous habit. “It’s just that we prefer to distract and keep the mood up. Our jobs are to do what even cops and the military either won’t or have no time to do,” he reminded. “If the men in blue and military men are dying...no one here is delusional to think we wouldn’t have casualties as well.” 

Oikawa tapped the desk with his fingers. “Our sector doesn’t really talk about it as openly as you all seem to. We talk about it hypothetically more often than not.”

“That we do. But we also don’t have to bloody our hands as often. We catch people, we put em in jail, or we make them turn themselves in. The front lines are a whole different ball park,” Iwaizumi reminded. “We’re trained for combat, but only as a way of ensuring we aren’t caught with wool over our eyes. This sector trains because their lives depend on it.”

The lower sector was trained to disarm for the sake of apprehending. The upper sector was trained to disarm for the sake of survival. 

“Don’t think too hard about it. On a different note, do you want to see the most recent update on the case?”

“Now is as good a time as ever,” Oikawa said, still somewhat hesitant but knowing it was better to remain in the loop. 

After being tossed the drive with the information, Oikawa looked it over while his leg bounced from beneath the desk. The notes were exactly what he’d been expecting: Loon was under custody of the crows with around the clock surveillance, Wildfire was stable after surgery but had yet to wake, Natsu was being protected by Eagle himself, The hag was being charged with attempted murder of an agent and sent to be dealt with by the government while all her henchman that had been captured were being questioned. 

“Is Wildfire at the hospital alone?”

“No, Ozul is there in case he wakes up. I could always have someone escort you to the hospital if you want to…”

“No,” Oikawa said quickly. “I think... I think it’s better if I wait here for him. It might be a bit much for me to see him not awake yet.”

“If it helps, just think like we do,” Swan began. “The moment you think let your mind wander, you lose. If there’s one thing you should know about us crows, it’s that we really,  _ really  _ hate to lose.” 

Oikawa nodded. “Trust me, Wildfire made that very clear when he was with us,” he chuckled.“One more question and I’m done, I swear.”

“No, we don’t know when he’ll wake,” Iwaizumi answered as Oikawa rolled his eyes. 

“Not what I was going to ask. I was going to ask about... _ this _ ,” Oikawa said, motioning to their position. “How did you know that you...you know. I’m not judging but it just...” 

Iwaizumi and Swan eyed each other, the former clearing his throat and scratching his cheek. The topic was at the other spectrum of what they had been talking about, mood already lifting in the room. 

“I’m...not sure myself in all honesty. It kind of just happened. Besides, you can’t really judge considering your situation.”

“Situation? What situation?” Swan asked, looking between the two of them. 

Iwaizumi and Oikawa both froze as the latter turned red in the face. 

“Shit. Nothing, I said nothing,” Iwaizumi said as Oikawa shot him the dirtiest look he could muster. “I think it’s about time that I reported back to our sector. You know, keep them updated and—”

“Oh no, you little snake,” Swan insisted, wrapping his arms around the other’s neck and holding on tightly. “Who managed to steal Tooru’s heart? Is it a snake?”

“No!” Oikawa said, Swan’s expression brightening. 

“So it’s a crow?” 

“No, I mean,  _ yes _ , but you—!”

Oikawa wondered if today was just the day that everyone figured out his feelings, hoping at some point he would get a chance to think about them more himself.

“Let me guess. Was it Yachi? Or maybe Kiyoko? A lot of people here had crushes on her,” Swan began, Iwaizumi pressing his lips together tightly to hide the bubbling amusement from his partner. 

Oikawa had found another traitor in their midst. 

Swan rattled off names at a rate that Oikawa couldn’t even keep up with, his head spinning by the time Iwaizumi decided to offer a hint.

“It isn’t a woman, Koshi,” Iwaizumi added as a tip, smirking in the same way Oikawa had when he’d burst into the room earlier. 

Taking the information and running with it, Swan parted his lips and gasped. “Eagle? Grey? Ozul? Oh! Was it Jay?”

“Hell no,” the two snakes said in unison and causing the crow to frown. 

“The only other person I know that you’ve come into contact is…” 

The realization that crossed Swan’s face would have been hilarious if not for the fact that it was his nonexistent love life being talked about.

“Oh, Tooru…”

“Don’t,” he said with a strained smile. “I mean, yeah, it’s sucky timing, but the heart’s weird like that, right?” 

Swan lost all enthusiasm, expression growing into something too parental for Oikawa’s liking. 

“Well, this actually might be a good distraction for you to use until Wildfire wakes. So I’ll help you start. Question one: When was the first time you thought of Wildfire in a way other than a fellow agent or part of a mission?” 

Deciding that Swan may actually be onto something, considered it. 

With a nod of sincere encouragement from his partner, Oikawa found that the words were slipping past his lips without much thought at all. 

“I guess...it might have started when he asked me to fix his goggles for him? He wouldn’t let me see his eyes and kept them closed. I teased him so much he got flustered and...”

* * *

 

That night while Oikawa lay in his bed, he fiddled with the drive, it thankfully having still been in his laptop once the door to his old room had been pried open again. Even if it had been something he’d originally given to Wildfire, it was also one of the things that had helped them find both the crow siblings. 

Placing it on his nightstand, he moved to lie on his back and stare at the ceiling. Just as Swan had recommended he do when he couldn’t sleep, he decided to start thinking about things that made him laugh or just overall relaxed. It was easier said than done, but his mind kind of went off on it’s own. 

Wildfire’s stupid goggles.

Or how emotional he could get about the smallest things. 

The way he seemed to pull strength from nowhere when he needed it. 

How sometimes when he laughed, he would snort. 

Oikawa smiled slightly at the last one, remembering how once he’d managed to make the other laugh so hard he choked on his milk. It had nearly come out of his nose, earning Oikawa a nice bruise on his arm as reward. 

Actually feeling somewhat better, Oikawa continued to list off things that he liked about Wildfire since it worked much better than his original idea.

Wildfire could be childish. 

He was energetic and could eat three times his weight. 

When he was tired, he would whine and cling to the nearest thing.

When he was sad, he would still try to smile. 

Oikawa swallowed hard, his own smile falling. The familiar ache of concern formed in his chest, but it was followed by a warmth he had never paid much attention to. 

‘Ah,’ he thought to himself, staring into the darkness of his room as he realized something he probably had known for a fairly long time already. 

‘That’s....’

  
  
  
  



	8. —But They Can't Take You.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did you just confess to me?” Wildfire blurted, hands moving to his mouth to cover it as he thought carefully about his next words. “I mean I didn’t know you...I always thought you’d like someone more…”
> 
> Oikawa allowed Wildfire’s wrists to escape his hold, the crow making an hourglass shape in the air. It really did take everything in Oikawa's power to not laugh at the gesture.
> 
> Wildfire really was too damn cute, sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is it! 
> 
> There is an epilogue that I will post in the near future, but this is definitely the end of the planned chapters :D Thank you to all who read and I hope that it was all worth it for you. 
> 
> Gotta up that Oihina content somehow :D 
> 
> Much love,
> 
> ~HxL

“What if he doesn’t want to see me?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” 

“I don’t know.”

“Great logic.”

Oikawa shot his partner a look before looking out his car window. He knew he was being difficult, but he had finally gotten used to the whole ‘don’t think too hard about it’ advice over the past few weeks. Especially considering how Wildfire had ended up getting a fever days after waking and was almost classified as a medical emergency. The snake had nearly died from the panic he had felt, it ultimately deterring him from visiting Wildfire despite everyone else going nearly every day. 

Each time they returned, they would tell him about how he was doing and who else they had seen at the hospital. That was enough for Oikawa, really. He didn’t mind sticking back and just listening because as long as Wildfire was awake and alright, that was enough. No matter what feelings he may have—or definitely had. Oikawa couldn’t lie about that anymore—he was willing to take a back seat for once in something that involved Wildfire. 

At least, that was what he had decided until he visited Loon in his holding cell. 

_ Don’t be an idiot, Otter. You’re better than that...or at least I hope you are.  _

The words had been shocking, sure, but they had managed to get him thinking. While Loon had definitely been a pain in the ass and nearly gotten him killed, he had also managed to save all of them in the same breath. Oikawa still didn’t trust him as much as Jay apparently did, but he decided to take that piece of advice and go to see the injured crow before he could change his mind. Leading him here in a car with Iwaizumi and probably annoying the living hell out of him. 

“Relax, Shittykawa. He’s been asking for you,” Iwaizumi reminded. By how he gripped the steering wheel, his patience was beginning to run thin.

“Really?” Oikawa murmured. 

“Really.”

He could feel relief fill him as he sunk into his seat, though a moment later he squinted his eyes at his partner.“You aren’t lying?”

“No.”

He leaned toward his partner, still skeptical about whether the information was accurate.“You sure?”

Iwaizumi drove around the corner without a word, slamming on the breaks without warning. Oikawa lurched forward, the seatbelt nearly choking him as he let out a yelp. Once he managed to regain his breath, Iwaizumi shut the car off and unbuckled his seatbelt. 

Oikawa took that as a sign to follow, rubbing his neck and grumbling under his breath. “A simple  _ yes _ would have worked.”

The look Iwaizumi gave him made him wonder if he’d end up lying in a hospital bed sometime soon.

* * *

 

“Well, look who it is,” Swan said as Iwaizumi entered, Oikawa slowly entering behind him. “We were wondering when you two would show up. I’ve been here for an hour already.” 

Iwaizumi moved towards the white-haired male, wrapping an arm around his waist and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Someone almost made me lose my sanity on the way here,” he admitted with an exhausted expression, Swan snickering at the words and cupping his cheek with a hand. 

“You look like hell,” Wildfire commented with a smirk, not surprised at all about the PDA. His arms were crossed over his chest, Oikawa spotting the bandages that he was sporting beneath his tank top. “Seems like Otter still has his touch of being irritating, huh?”

Oikawa flinched, gaze moving upwards to see that Wildfire was staring straight at him. When their eyes met, Oikawa realized that his goggles were resting on his head rather than being worn. His cheeks heated at the thought that it was nice to see his face without anything covering it. It was just a shame that the first time Oikawa managed to see his eyes, it was only because of him nearly dying. 

Now he knew that Wildfire had two different colored eyes rather than the brown he’d always imagined 

“We’ll leave you to it, then,” Swan said, reaching out and ruffling Wildfire’s hair gently. “Don’t give him too hard a time,” he teased, Wildfire rolling his eyes. 

“No promises. Don’t break my boss.”

Swan flushed at the comment, Iwaizumi snorting and pulling the flustered crow from the room before he could scold him.

The silence arrived the moment the door closed, Oikawa standing near it and shifting back and forth on his feet. Neither one of the agents spoke at first, not really knowing what to talk about first. There was so much to unpack that it was overwhelming to Oikawa. 

He suddenly didn’t feel as prepared as he had when they had entered the hospital. 

Should he talk about where the hell Wildfire had been for nearly a month? Or should they talk about their injuries first? Or maybe about how Wildfire was feeling at that point in time?

“You can sit, you know. Just pull up a chair and...well, sit,” Wildfire said quietly, a nervous smile on his lips. 

Oikawa paused at the way Wildfire’s voice had wavered, shoulders slowly relaxing. He felt rather silly, actually, considering that he had been caught up in his own thoughts again. He hadn’t even imagined that Wildfire would be nervous as well. It was stupid, now that he gave it a bit more thought considering how Wildfire hadn’t seen him in so long. 

Of course he would be nervous too. 

Doing as told, he grabbed a chair and pulling it up next to the other’s hospital bed. He still couldn’t manage to look the other in the eyes, worried about what would happen if he did. He didn’t want to ruin the visit with the memory of him getting hurt. 

“The next step is usually to look at the person you’re meant to talk to,” Wildfire added. “Unless you don’t actually want to talk?”

“I do,” Oikawa said immediately, eyes flickering up to catch Wildfire’s eyes meeting his. The rest of his words died on his lips, mouth dry going dry at the sight.

Light Brown and Green. 

Wildfire’s eyes were brown and green. Oikawa had never seen eyes that were different colors before, but on Wildfire, they made him look like he should be on a magazine cover rather than working for a spy organization. 

Wildfire sighed at his silence and pushed some hair from his face. “If you really did, then why are you acting like we’re strangers?  Weren’t you the one that mentioned how one-sided conversations don’t ever work?” he asked with a teasing smile. “Swan and the others were talking about how you couldn’t wait to talk to me, and yet here I am, trying to talk to you and it’s like you’ve forgotten how to speak.”

“It’s not...that I don’t want to,” Oikawa managed to force out. “It's just...your eyes....”

_ Are amazing _ . 

“Oh,” Wildfire said as he curled into himself and raised a hand to his face. “ I forgot to put my goggles back on. I could if you want me to...?” he said as he moved to lower them. He didn’t get far considering how quickly Oikawa’s arm reaching out to stop him. 

“No.”

Wildfire parted his lips, only to close them and chew on his lower lip. “No?”

“No,” Oikawa repeated with a clearing of his throat. “They’re nice. I like them.”

Relaxing somewhat, Wildfire parted his lips to speak, not knowing what to really say. 

“It’s just a shame I was scared to look at them until right now.”

Wildfire’s cheeks tinted pink at the words, his hand lowering as the goggles on his head went forgotten. “Why were you scared?”

Oikawa moved to sit in his chair, messing with this thumbs. “I thought I’d remember what you did,” he said honestly. “I didn’t want to remember.”

“I can’t blame you,” Wildfire murmured. “But if you think it’s a shame...then you must not have thought of that, right? What did you think about?” he asked silently. “Something good, I hope?”

A slight chuckle left Oikawa’s lips as he nodded. “I thought about what a crime it is to hide them. It would have been an even bigger shame if I had never managed to see them.” 

Wildfire bit back another smile. “You really don’t think they’re weird?” 

“Why would I? Hiding them should be a crime,” Oikawa muttered as he leaned forward so his elbows rested on the edge of the hospital bed. He pressed his cheek into his palm and continued to stare, Wildfire looking away at the intensity of his gaze. 

“That doesn’t mean look away,” Oikawa joked, tilting his head to try and get a better look. 

_ That means don’t stop looking at me. _

Wildfire raised his hands to his face. “I can’t when you’re so intense like that!” 

Quirking a brow, Oikawa frowned. “Why?” 

“Because it’s... _ intense _ !” 

Oikawa laughed, actually laughed, for the first time in weeks. Wildfire made it so simple to forget his worries when he was acting so cute. “Why? Is my  _ intense _ gaze making you feel emotions in that crow heart of yours?” he teased, more than happy to fall back into their old banter. “Is it making you fall for me, Chibi-chan?”

When Wildfire didn’t respond, Oikawa wondered if he had pushed the other too far. He reached out again, this time to try and pry the hands from Wildfire’s face. The crow was stubborn, however, making small noises of refusal. Oikawa moved from the chair to the edge of the bed, sighing and not trying to force it. He didn’t let go of Wildfire’s wrists despite giving up. 

“Hey, I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to take it too far,” Oikawa assured despite the sinking feeling in his gut. “I’ll stop teasing but you need to put your hands down if we’re going to keep talking.”

Wildfire shook his head. 

“Are you angry?”

Another shake of the head.

Oikawa blinked. “Upset?”

Another shake. 

“Well, then why won’t you look at me?” Oikawa asked with a pout. “Was I right?” 

A pause followed by a single slow nod. 

Oikawa’s eyes went a bit wide at the action, lips parting. He hadn’t actually expected...this, but he wasn’t upset at the course of events. In fact, he felt like he was going to explode from the relief and joy that flooded his system. His heartbeat sped up at the very thought that his feelings weren’t actually one-sided. 

Did that make Oikawa’s first love one that was actually requited?

Despite how his mind was going a mile a minute in an attempt to process Wildfire’s forced confession, he said the only thing that he could manage without freaking the other out. 

“Oh.”

Oikawa nearly cringed. 

Smooth. 

“We can forget it,” Wildfire assured from behind his hands, Oikawa frowning at the words. “I know that relationships and stuff aren’t your thing since we’ve talked about it plenty of times and I don’t want you to accept my feelings just because I almost died because that would be awful for the both of us and I—”

“Me too.”

The crow stopped speaking, splitting his hands so he could look at Oikawa through the gaps.“What?”

"Me too," Oikawa repeated with a small smile. It fell a moment later as he sputtered. "About the falling thing. For you, I mean, not for myself. That would be weird.”

Wildfire remained frozen, no doubt wondering if it was another joke or sincere. Oikawa hadn’t wanted the confession to be like this—hell, he’d wanted it to be a little more...cheesy, probably—but he supposed that this kind of confession was appropriate for them both. There was no time better than the present if he had learned anything over the course of the ride that was Wildfire’s life. 

“Did you just confess to me?” Wildfire blurted, hands moving to his mouth to cover it as he thought carefully about his next words. “I mean I didn’t know you...I always thought you’d like someone more…”

Oikawa allowed Wildfire’s wrists to escape his hold, the crow making an hourglass shape in the air. It really did take everything in Oikawa's power to not laugh at the gesture.

Wildfire really was too damn cute, sometimes.

“More what? Female?” Oikawa asked with a tilt of his head. 

Flushing, Wildfire nodded shyly. 

“I do,” the snake said honestly. “But I like you too. More than like,” he explained. “Is that weird to you?”

“No,” Wildfire assured, shaking his head from side to side so wildly that his hair moved with him. “I had always kind of hoped but you were always so concentrated on work that I could have never imagined you liking anyone.” 

“We never really talked about romance, did we?” Oikawa said with a chuckle. “Probably because I’d never really experienced it.”

“Me neither…” Wildfire hummed. “I thought at first it was just admiration or something, but then you kept teasing me and my heart wouldn’t stop being all weird and acting like it wanted to jump out of my chest and hug you itself,” he said as he clenched his hands into fists. 

“You’re making it sound like liking me is a punishment, Chibi-chan,” Oikawa said with a pout. “You wound me.”

Wildfire’s face brightened at the words, eyes lighting up in a way that Oikawa had always wanted to see them. Oikawa grabbed a hold of the other’s hand and brushed his thumbs over the knuckles slowly. Wildfire squeezed, using his free hand to rest on top of both Oikawa’s and his own. 

“Thank you. For coming, I mean. I was worried you’d avoid me for what I did.”

Oikawa sighed. “I kind of did,” he said honestly. “I thought ‘as long as he’s okay, I’ll be fine’” he explained, keeping his eyes on their connected hands. “But then I realized how weird it was to have you back and not see you. I...really wanted to see you.”

“Well good,” Wildfire said, still somewhat glowing at the fact that Oikawa returned his feelings...whatever they even were. 

“But I do have to say something that you might not want to hear,” Oikawa admitted. “You have to promise you won’t get angry.”

“How could I promise that without knowing what you want to say?” Wildfire asked with a tilt of his head. “If I don’t want to hear it, then obviously it might make me angry which means I would have lied to you about not getting angry.”

“Ah, you’re not wrong. How about you promise to at least hear me out and then we can talk it out without yelling?” 

Wildfire thought about it, slowly nodding to show that it was a better agreement. “Alright. That works.”

Oikawa let out a small breath, knowing that he might ruin the light mood, but he needed to get this out into the air. If he didn’t, it might just ruin him in the long run. 

“As much as I appreciate you for saving me and taking that shot...don’t ever do that for me again.” 

“I can’t promise you that.”

The answer had been instantaneous, Oikawa looking up to see Wildfire staring at him. It wasn’t angry like he’d assumed, more so thoughtful about his words. 

“That’s asking me to willingly give up all that makes me a crow. We protect innocents and make sure that they get out of their situation alive.”

Oikawa knew it. He’d said the same thing to Iwaizumi many times over whenever he had almost gotten injured on missions. Hearing it from someone else made him realize just how painful it was to listen to. 

“Wildfire…”

“Your job was to save my sister and you did that. But after that was done, my job was to make sure the three of you got out of there alive,” Wildfire explained. “I don’t regret doing it at all, and I certainly don’t blame you or think it was your fault,” he said with a shake of his head. “So...I let you do your job and had faith you’d find Natsu. Have faith that a pesky little bullet won’t ever keep me down.”

Unable to think of an argument against his words, Oikawa chuckled, bringing the other’s hands up to his forehead and shutting his eyes. “I’m not going to convince you to never do it again, am I?” 

“Not on your life or mine,” Wildfire said easily. “But why are you already thinking about it happening again when I’m not even fully healed yet?” he grumbled. “I’m quite offended, honestly.”

“We both know you aren’t.”

Wildfire couldn’t hide the grin that spread on his lips. “Yeah, I know,” he said before stretching carefully. “But with that settled, I’m getting sleepy.”

“Already?” 

“I've been up for six hours waiting for you to get here,” Wildfire deadpanned, narrowing his eyes. “I fought drugs to stay awake for you.  _ Drugs _ , Otter.”

Oikawa pressed his lips together in an attempt to keep his composure, but a second later the two of them broke eye contact to laugh silently to themselves. Oikawa snuck a peek to the crow, admiring the way the other’s shoulders shook at how hard he was laughing.  It reminded him of the atmosphere they’d had at their sector when training or just talking in the crow’s old room. The odd calm that they had taken for granted many times over, but appreciated this time around. 

Wildfire shifted, letting out a deep breath once he finished laughing before edging towards the end of the bed. He eyed Oikawa expectantly, the snake straightening up and raising a brow at the action.

“You serious? Mr. ‘Never touch me’ wants to cuddle?” 

“Why? Does Mr. ‘You know I never listen’  have a reason he  _ doesn’t  _ want to?”

Rolling his eyes at the other’s childish response, he moved to lay beside him, an arm moving beneath his head while the other rested against his hip. Wildfire curled into him, eyes closing as a yawn tore from his throat. He hummed happily, seeming to enjoy the extra warmth. 

“Thank you.”

“What for this time?” Oikawa chuckled. “You’re always thanking me for things. I don’t think I’ve ever had a chance to thank you back.”

“This is your thank you,” the crow slurred, obviously a lot more tired than he'd let on. “This is all you have to do.”

“Cuddle you?” 

A weak smack to his chest. 

“Stay with me.”

The words might have made Oikawa’s heart fluttered a tiny bit. 

Resting his chin on the crow’s head, he shut his own eyes. “I could do that,” he promised, but Wildfire was already fast asleep, having been lulled by the other’s heartbeat.

* * *

 

“She shouldn’t have gotten off so easily.”

Wildfire looked over from Oikawa’s lap, shrugging his shoulders. “Yeah, well, we should just be thankful that they locked her away for life for attempted murder,” he said calmly. Oikawa watched him with wonder, as he actually found himself agreeing with Jay on the sentiment. He wished she would have been locked in solitary for the rest of her life, but he guessed a high-security prison was okay as well. 

“You’re too nice,” Jay muttered, crossing his arms as Oikawa nodded in agreement. “She literally tried to murder both of you and yet you are okay with her getting placed in some dingy prison.”

“So I guess Loon getting off with a slap on the wrist had nothing to do with a certain someone else’s kindness?” Wildfire challenged. “A year and a half under watch with visitation and then witness protection? That’s nothing.”

Tensing, Jay looked away and coughed into his fist. “That’s different,” he insisted. “He’s my old partner and saved me. How could I just leave him out to dry without providing some kind of defense? Besides, he sold out Madam’s hideout and allowed us to raid it. That’s something I didn’t have to tell him to do.” 

“Because you  _ lov— _ ”

Jay turned red in the face and glared at the snake with a look of warning. “Watch it.”

Oikawa raised a hand in surrender, allowing it to return to Wildfire’s lap once he placed it back down. “I’m just saying, you guys are...cute. I had a feeling about it since I saw how you looked at him.”

“Stop it.”

“Plus you told me,” Wildfire added as Jay stood. 

“I’m going to train.”

“Just remember the training grounds are at the  _ other _ end of the base,” Wildfire teased with a wink, Jay huffing as he exited the room, leaving the couple to their own business. 

“How ruthless of you,” Oikawa murmured, nosing the other’s neck affectionately. “And to your fellow crow.”

Wildfire rolled his eyes and placed a hand to push Oikawa away, chuckling at the affectionate gesture. “Yeah, well, if even we figured it out he should get on it,” he said without much concern. “Once Loon gets out, he’ll have to leave and Jay will have a choice to make.”

“You think he’ll go with him into witness?” Oikawa said in surprise, not having considered the possibility. 

“Considering how Jay’s been burning out lately, I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s your age and finally found someone he syncs with well only to have them kicked out,” Wildfire said with a frown. “It must hurt even if Loon at least won’t be getting put away.”

Humming at the thought, Oikawa groaned and pulled the crow closer. “Let’s not think about that,” he said. “Instead, I want to talk about you.”

“All we’ve done is talk about me,” Wildfire said with a half smile. “I told you about everything from my childhood to where I went after I left the lower sector. I’m me’d out!” 

“You never told me where your codename came from,” Oikawa reminded. “Wildfire. I’ve been trying to piece it together with you but can’t seem to do it.”

“That? It isn’t all that interesting,” Wildfire insisted. “It was just a name given to me by my grandfather, really.”

Oikawa pouted, poking the other in the side and watching him. “There had to be a reason. Your grandfather wouldn’t give you a non-animal code name for no reason.”

Sighing, Wildfire moved to rest his head on the other’s shoulder and shrugged. “I guess there was,” he admitted. “But you can’t feel all sad for me once I tell you, alright?” 

“Fine. Promise.”

Accepting the answer, Wildfire shut his eyes and bit his lower lip. “When I was first showed up to my grandfather’s place, he didn’t exactly want to take care of two kids. He thought that it wasn’t his responsibility since he and my dad hadn’t been in contact after some huge argument. It was the last conversation they had had before...well, you know.”

Oikawa nodded.

“So he basically told us that we’d live under his house, but we wouldn’t be under his care. We’d have to do everything ourselves if we wanted to survive. And he meant it,” he muttered with a shake of his head. “But I guess I got really fed up one day because he yelled at Natsu for breaking something in the kitchen, and I just full on attacked him. Obviously, I didn’t do much damage, but I did nearly scratch his eye out and then ran out with Natsu and hid. When he found us, instead of being angry, he just  _ stared  _ at me. The day after that, he asked me to fight him again.”

“How old were you?” 

“About eleven,” Wildfire said with a grin. “I couldn’t hurt him much, but he had the hardest time trying to get a hold on me. Once I was down, though, I was down. And he laughed so hard that day. At first I thought it was because of my struggling, but later on I found out it was because he was  _ happy _ . After that, he just continued to call me his little wildfire because I was hard to control whenever I fought someone. Instinct over calculation or something.”

It wasn’t the story Oikawa had been expecting, but it was certainly one worthy of hearing. 

“My grandfather taught me how he’d been taught, through example. No explanations, no words...it’s partially why the three years of training I had here were hell,” Wildfire laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “They were so oral about everything and I couldn’t imagine it. It was only after they showed me that I understood, but that wouldn’t work well if someone was explaining where to go in my ear. So I worked really hard to adjust and eventually found a balance. I still sucked at defending myself, though.”

Oikawa snorted at that. “My I couldn’t bluff,” he teased as Wildfire smacked his chest gently. 

“So there is my boring story about where my name came from. Why not tell me yours?”

“Mine is far less interesting than that,” Oikawa chuckled. “Iwaizumi gave it to me because he said that I was too playful and innocent looking to actually be a spy at first,” he explained. “It was only after we did our first duo mission together that he said the name actually did suit me considering how I could make jokes even when hanging off the roof of a building. He wasn’t too enthused about it at the time, but now he mentions it a lot while teasing me.”

Wildfire hummed. “I would have thought that he called you Otter because of how touchy you are,” he said with a smile. His eyes flickered down to the other’s arms which were wrapped around his waist casually. “You know, because Otters hold hands so they don’t ever get separated while in the water.”

Oikawa blinked, thinking about it and feeling shocked at how well it fit considering how anxious he’d gotten when separated from Wildfire. 

“He’s really an alien,” he muttered. 

“Huh?” 

“Nothing,” Oikawa said as he moved to press a kiss to the other’s cheek. “But I like that reason too. It  _ is  _ fitting.”

Wildfire flushed a bit at the kiss and looked up at his boyfriend. “Good. Glad I could contribute,” he said before moving to get off the other and stretching out his limbs. 

“Where you headed?” Oikawa asked, shifting forward and placing his hands back on the other’s hips. It was almost automatic how he touched the other, a habit that Wildfire found rather cute. 

“Gonna make sure that Natsu has eaten today. Ever since Iwaizumi’s been teaching her about computers, she’s addicted.”

“Hm...future hacker in the making?” Oikawa asked as Wildfire rolled his eyes and cupped his cheeks. 

“Not on my watch,” the crow replied as he pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. Oikawa shut his eyes at the feeling, pouting once Wildfire pulled away. 

“One more thing,” Oikawa insisted.

“No, I will not let you come with me on my next mission.”

“Not what I was going to say!” Oikawa said, faltering a bit. “But still, wounded.”

Wildfire crossed his arms once he let go of Oikawa’s cheeks, nodding. “Fine, fine. Go on.”

“Oikawa Tooru.”

Squinting his eyes, Wildfire frowned. “Ha?” 

“My name. Oikawa Tooru,” Oikawa said aloud. “ I’m 25 years old as of last week and like a little crow called…?” 

Wildfire seeming to pick up on what Oikawa was doing, parted his lips and felt his gaze soften by just a bit. 

“Hinata Shouyou. I’m 21 years old as of a month ago, and seem to have fallen for a very sneaky snake called Oikawa Tooru.”

Oikawa straightened in his chair. “Hey, I’m not sneaky!” 

“You are. So sneaky. Super sneaky!” 

“I am  _ no—” _

A clearing of the throat made them both stop as they turned to see Iwaizumi leaning at the doorway. “Would you look at that. You idiots actually did get together.”

Wildfire, or Hinata now that he was allowed to refer to the other by his name, flushed and moved away from Oikawa shyly. 

“Oh, don’t stop being all gross just cause I’m here. I was just wondering if you guys had seen Natsu. I wanted to give her some of my old books to look at.”

Forgetting his embarrassment, Hinata groaned. “Please don’t,” he said as he walked over. “She’s already driving me crazy about the ones she has. She keeps saying terms and names that mean nothing to me!”

“Hey, after rejecting Oikawa’s training, I graciously offered to still train her in something that wasn’t combat based. You asked for this.”

“He’s right, Chibi-chan.”

Glaring at his boyfriend, Oikawa looked away and whistled, no longer taking part in the conversation. Hinata returned his attention to Iwaizumi and sighed. 

“Let’s go, then. I was going to check in on her to make sure she ate anyway.”

Iwaizumi nodded, snapping his fingers once he remembered something. “Oh, right. Swan wanted me to let you know that some of the agents from Madam’s facility are now being booked all around to avoid oversaturation.”

“Some? What about the others?” Hinata asked curiously. 

“That’s the kicker. Many of them had loved ones that were being held captive at the facility building. After they were all freed and cleared, the agents had the decision to go into witness or be released into society as they were. Obviously they chose witness to avoid any of the gangs that Madam had been working with.”

Hinata’s eyes went wide, Oikawa standing with a frown. 

“So she half of them weren’t even willing agents?” 

Iwaizumi shook his head. “Madam had captives as young as five in that place. There’s no saying that they hadn’t grown up there, though.”

“What a horrible person,” Hinata whispered quietly. He swallowed hard, shaking his head and taking a deep breath. “But at least they are all good now, right?”

Sensing his distress, Iwaizumi raised a hand to ruffle Hinata’s hair gently. “They are. And it’s partially thanks to you, so feel good about that.”

Hinata shook his head. “I didn’t do anything,” he said with a chuckle. “But anyway, to Natsu!” he said, shooting Oikawa a wave as he and Iwaizumi left his room. Their chatter was audible until his doors closed behind them, Oikawa’s eyes not leaving where they had been standing. 

“Did he just touch his hair?”


End file.
